Egyptian authorities have announced plans to do away with the importation of petroleum products by 2023.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Monday that petrol production by the country’s refineries will be sufficient for local consumption in the next two years.

“By 2023, God willing, Egypt will reach total petroleum self-sufficiency. We will not be importing petroleum products produced in other countries,” the Egyptian leader said while addressing the country’s parliament.

The prime minister noted that, in 2020, the country had signed 26 geological survey contracts with combined investments of nearly $11 billion.

“We have reached a total gas self-sufficiency and met the local market’s demands in various areas,” Mr. Madbouly said, adding that gas production had increased by 28 percent.

Petroleum minister, Tarek El Molla, said last September that Egypt imported only 3.5 million tonnes of gasoline for $1.5 billion in 2020, unlike in 2016 when it imported 10 million tonnes.

Mr. Madbouly told the Egyptian lower house today that the government had also managed to fully implement its economic reforms package and lowered the budget deficit from 10 to 7.9 percent.

(Sputnik/NAN)