Egypt's 'New' Suez canal

[outsider]

'One year on, are 'new' Suez Canal revenues sinking?':
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/egypt-suez-canal-exp ansion-project-anniversary-revenue.html?

'...Al-Monitor analyzed the data on ships and their cargo provided by the Suez Canal Authority. We compared September 2014-March 2015 — in other words, before the expanded Suez Canal was opened — to the same period the following year, September 2015-March 2016 (after the canal's expansions were completed). The published data only goes up to March 2016.

The total number of ships that passed through the canal before the expansion amounted to 10,028, carrying a gross tonnage of 570,017 tons of cargo. Following the expansion, traffic increased to 10,062 ships, carrying a total tonnage of 574,553 tons of cargo.

The total growth in ships transiting the canal after it was expanded amounted to an anemic 0.0033%, and freightage increased by only 0.008%.

Ahmad Sultan, a former adviser on maritime transport to the minister of transportation, commented on these percentages: "The new Suez Canal is a project for the future. Its goal is to increase the canal's absorptive capacity to keep pace with the expected increase in the maritime traffic in the future."

Sultan added, "The project is an investment in basic infrastructure. It is a long-term investment, and it cannot be judged on the basis of one year, especially in the wake of the decline of global trade. That latter is something that was reflected in the canal's revenues as a matter of course."....

But some Banksters must be rubbing their hands together in delight:


'...Initially, the project was to be financed through a stock market IPO, allowing partial private ownership of the project. However, the government quickly changed its financing strategy, relying on interest-bearing investment certificates that do not confer any ownership rights to investors.[15] The certificates were issued by the Suez Canal Authority with an interest rate of 12%....'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Suez_Canal

Yummee, yummee, yummee.....but not for the poor tax-payers. But, of couse, since when did Military Juntas give a toss how much it cost the people? Some 'Arab Spring'!!!!