CAIRO, Sept 5 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's Suez Canal made revenues decreased from January through July by 1.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, reported state-run MENA news agency.

Revenues reached $2.919 billion during the first seven months of 2016, down from $2.977 billion during the same period in 2015, according to previous statistics from the Suez Canal Authority. 

The canal's revenue reached $429 million in July compared with $418.7 million in June, the agency said.

More than a year ago, Egypt inaugurated a project dubbed as the "New Suez Canal" with the aim of increasing revenues through increasing the number of ships passing through the canal.

The project involved digging a 35-kilometre-long waterway parallel to the existing one as well as deepening and widening the current canal to make way for larger number of ships.

The Suez Canal Authority says the project will generate revenues of $13.226 billion by 2023, compared to $ 5.3 billion before the digging of the new canal, marking an increase of 259%.

The Suez Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency.

Egypt is suffering an acute foreign currency shortage as years of political turmoil have taken a toll on the economy which currently stands at $16.5, still half than the foreign reserves Egypt had before 2011 which were almost $36 billion.