The president made the remarks on Thursday during the opening ceremony of the second stage of the Silo Foods Industries City in Sadat City in Menoufiya governorate.

El-Sisi said that the state is working on increasing the number of soybean-cultivated lands by some 250,000 feddans to limit cooking oil imports, and a total of 500,000 feddans will be cultivated next year to increase soybean cooking oil production.

For his part, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi said that President El-Sisi has ordered that $1.8 billion be allocated to supporting the reserves of basic commodities.

Regarding oil, the minister said that a plan has been drawn up to grow 52,000 acres of soybeans and 100,000 acres of sunflower, and that olive oil factories are operational, adding that reserves are sufficient for 4.9 months.

Moselhi also said that wheat reserves are enough for 4.5 months, which he said is a safe level.

He also explained that there has been a boom in sugar production, and an increase in beet cultivation is compensating for a shortage in sugar cane.

Moselhi revealed that the ministry's reserves of sugar are enough for 3.5 months.

Moreover, the minister said that rice reserves are sufficient for three months and that Egypt is self-sufficient in this crop.

Regarding the reserves of live meat, Moselhi said there is enough for six months, and that Egypt is self-sufficient in terms of live chickens.

Reserves of frozen chickens are enough for four months, he added.

President El-Sisi has recently instructed the government to raise the stock of wheat, rice and corn to more than 6 million tons to serve Egypt and the region.

Egypt's annual urban inflation rate accelerated to 25.8 percent in January 2023, up from 21.3 percent in December 2022, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said earlier on Thursday.

The figures significantly surpass the target set by the Central Bank of Egypt of 7 percent (±2 percent) through the end of the year.

CAPMAS attributed the spike in annual inflation mainly to the increase in the prices of food and beverages, restaurants and hotels, culture and entertainment commodities and other services by 48.1 percent, 42.8 percent, 30.6 percent, and 21.9 percent, respectively.

El-Sisi added during his remarks at the event that $100 billion is needed over seven years to cover the importation gap, which is $30 billion annually.