LA PAZ (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) The new Bolivian government has already drafted a set of measures to lift the economy out of crisis, including an import substitution program, President Luis Arce told Sputnik in an interview.
"We want to follow the path of import substitution, we have an enormous potential to stop importing Primary and finished goods that we supply today," Arce said.
In five years, Bolivia intends to abandon diesel fuel imports thorough applying advanced technologies in the domestic production, the president announced.
"We are going to recycle edible oil to produce diesel fuel. It is an essential product for passenger and freight transport. Due to its production Bolivia will stop importing diesel fuel in five years," Arce explained.
The government plans to promote domestic tourism amid the coronavirus restrictions hindering foreign travel, the president went on to say. Elaborating on the measures expected to boost the national economy, Arce also mentioned production and export of lithium batteries, and electric energy export.
The president expressed the belief that the GDP level would be on the rise "in a year and a half or two years."
According to the International Monetary Fund, Bolivia's GDP will see a 7.9 percent decline in 2020 before increasing by 5.6 percent in 2021.
