President Abdel Fattah El Sisi criticized detractors of Egypt’s economic policies, saying the economic benefits of the New Suez Canal and other national projects is unquestionable. In a speech yesterday marking the one-year anniversary of the opening of the New Suez Canal, the president said critics either don’t know the truth or are deliberately attempting to “sap the will of the Egyptian people.” El Sisi also called out critics of the government’s social housing and defense spending priorities. The Associated Press’ Hamza Hendawi has a wrap-up on the speech that’s been widely picked up, helping set the tone on coverage of Egypt this morning. You can watch the president’s speech in Arabic here (runtime: 27:31).

USD-denominated revenues from the Suez Canal grew 4% in the period from January to July to USD 3.2 bn, up from USD 3.1 bn during the same period last year, said Suez Canal Authority Chairman Mohab Mamish at the anniversary celebrations. This comes despite a 14% decrease in global trade during 2015, said Mamish. He attributes the dichotomy to the Suez Canal Authority’s “new marketing strategy,” which helped attract shipping, referring to the four discounts instituted by the authority in 2016 on transit fees for routes from the Americas to Asia and South East Asia. In EGP terms, revenues, grew 13.5% during the period to EGP 26.6 bn, Mamish said.

Mamish noted that his data was verified by the CBE and displayed certification for the FX revenue figures signed by CBE governor Tarek Amer. The Suez Canal Authority had not presented its monthly accounts on Suez Canal revenues since March and had refrained from providing USD-denominated revenues from February onwards. Mamish expects total revenues to grow in conjunction with an expected 2.8% and a 3.6% increase in global trade in 2016 and 2017. You can Watch Mamish’s speech in Arabic here (runtime: 35:57).