CAIRO, May 7 (Reuters) - Egypt's Suez Canal revenues dropped 22.7 percent to $346.9 million in April, compared to $448.9 million in the same month last year, but were up from $327.9 million in March, a Suez Canal Authority official said on Thursday.
Economists have been watching Suez Canal revenues closely to see any effects from piracy off the Somali coast and the recession in major economies, which is expected to reduce the volume of trade between Asia and Europe.
The canal authority said earlier in January that it would leave unchanged its transit tolls for 2009 despite its expectations that the global financial crisis will reduce traffic.
The canal is an important source of foreign currency for Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad.
The official said the number of vessels using the waterway was 1,482 in April, up from 1,439 in March. (Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, writing by Aziz El-Kaissouni; editing by Stephen Nisbet)