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Sisi tells Egyptians to bear with economic pain, says mega-projects provide jobs

Sisi tells Egyptians to bear with economic pain, says mega-projects provide jobs

PRESIDENT Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Egyptians that they were still able to eat and drink despite soaring prices as he defended mega-projects he said provided millions of jobs. Egypt's long-running foreign currency shortage risks deepening because of lost revenues from the Suez Canal, and this month has triggered store closures and new restrictions on credit card withdrawals. Inflation has eased slightly from record highs last year but is still running at over 30%. Sisi blamed the lack of foreign currency on Egypt's decades-old import dependency, which he said required spending of $1 billion a month on staples like wheat and vegetable oils and another $1 billion on fuel.…
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Egypt economic growth forecasts lowered as Gaza crisis flares – Reuters poll

Egypt economic growth forecasts lowered as Gaza crisis flares – Reuters poll

Egyptian economic growth will be slower than previously expected as its pound weakens, inflation cuts into purchasing power and fallout from the Gaza crisis eats into the country's main sources of foreign currency, a Reuters poll showed. Revenue from the Suez Canal fell 40% in early January after sea attacks by Yemen's Houthis diverted away shipping. The crisis in neighbouring Gaza that started in October has also weakened the tourism outlook. "Developments over the past month have seen the country being hit hard from various angles and directly to its main revenue generators," Pieter du Preez of Oxford Economics wrote in a…
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Suez Canal diversions pile pressure on Egypt’s distressed economy

Suez Canal diversions pile pressure on Egypt’s distressed economy

A sharp downturn in revenue after sea attacks by Yemen's Houthis diverted shipping away from the Suez Canal has struck a painful new blow to Egypt's already deteriorating economy, adding urgency to the need for reforms and help from abroad. Nearly all Egypt's main sources of foreign currency - natural gas exports, tourism, worker remittances from abroad, and now Suez Canal revenue - have all come under recent and severe pressure. Egypt needs foreign currency not only to import essential commodities to feed its people but also to repay $189.7 billion in foreign debt, most of it racked up over…
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Ships rerouted by Red Sea crisis face overwhelmed African ports

Ships rerouted by Red Sea crisis face overwhelmed African ports

SHIPPING companies sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks on the Red Sea face tough choices over where to refuel and restock, as African ports struggle with red tape, congestion and poor facilities, companies and analysts say. Hundreds of large vessels are rerouting around the southern tip of Africa, a longer route adding 10-14 days of travel, to escape drone and missile attacks by Yemeni Houthis that have pushed up oil prices and freight rates. The attacks by Iranian-backed militants have disrupted international trade through the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, which accounts for about…
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Suez Canal traffic uninterrupted after ship suffers fault – canal authority

Suez Canal traffic uninterrupted after ship suffers fault – canal authority

A container ship collided with a floating bridge in the eastern lane of the Suez Canal but the passage of ships through the waterway was not interrupted, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said. Tugboats helped the One Orpheus after it suffered a fault with its rudder while transiting the canal on its way from Singapore to the Netherlands, the authority said in a statement. The incident occurred in the eastern lane of the middle section of the canal, built as an expansion that was completed in 2015. Convoys of ships coming from the south were diverted along the original branch…
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Egypt’s Suez Canal revenue hits $7 billion record peak

Egypt’s Suez Canal revenue hits $7 billion record peak

EGYPT'S Suez Canal revenue hit a record high of $7 billion in the financial year to June 30, up 20.7% from the previous year, Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabea said on Monday. A statement from the authority attributed the rise to an increase in vessel numbers and cargoes, with total cargoes reaching a record high of 1.32 million tonnes, up 10.9% from 2020/21. The number of vessels transiting the canal rose 15.7% to 22,032. The canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the Egyptian government's main sources of foreign currency. A 2015 expansion of…
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Suez Canal container ship accident is a worst-case scenario for global trade

Suez Canal container ship accident is a worst-case scenario for global trade

IT'S estimated that 90% of the world’s trade is transported by sea. As consumers, we rarely give much thought to how the things we buy make their way across the planet and into our homes. That is, until an incident like the recent grounding of a huge container ship, the Ever Given, in the Suez Canal exposes the weaknesses in this global system. RORY HOPCRAFT, Industrial Researcher, University of Plymouth KEVIN JONES, Executive Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth KIMBERLY TAM, Lecturer in Cyber Security, University of Plymouth High winds have been blamed for the container ship…
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Suez Canal steps up efforts to remove blockage as shipping rates surge

Suez Canal steps up efforts to remove blockage as shipping rates surge

FLORENCE TAN, JESSICA JAGANATHAN, ROSLAN KHSAWNEH and GAVIN MAGUIRE  THE Suez Canal stepped up efforts yesterday to free a giant stuck container ship and end a blockage that has sent shipping rates for fuel tankers soaring and disrupted global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes. Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday. Efforts to free it may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather conditions, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. Shoei Kisen, Ever…
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‘Beached whale’ ship could block Suez Canal for weeks

‘Beached whale’ ship could block Suez Canal for weeks

YUSRI MOHAMED, GAVIN MAGUIRE and FLORENCE TAN A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade. The 400 m (430 yards) Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for oil and grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said eight tugs were working to move the vessel,…
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