CAIRO, Jul 31 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt will import 700,000 tonnes of raw sugar over the coming year to preserve the commodity price on the market and to fill the gap between consumption and production, said the cabinet on Sunday.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with ministers of Finance, Supply and Social Solidarity and decided to purchase two million tons of barley rice from local markets during the new harvest season, said a statement by the cabinet.

The Ministry of Supply will hold a meeting on Tuesday to determine the regulations related to receiving the rice, said the statement.

Egypt is adopting an integrated strategy to expand the production of sugar from beetroot, according to the Minister of Agriculture.

Egypt consumes about 3.2 million tonnes of sugar annually but produces just over 2 million tonnes leaving a gap of slightly over a million tonnes a year for imports

Last May, the government exempted raw sugar importers from custom duties until the end of the year but imposed an EGP 900 per tonne tax on exported sugar effective until the end of the year.