Libya’s internationally recognised government has suspended the operations of 40 foreign companies including French oil multinational Total, a Libyan government official has said.

The move is thought to have been prompted by the besieged Libyan government’s anger at the reluctance by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to offer the Libyan prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, more explicit support when they met this week in Paris.

Total is a major oil player in Libya, which pumps more than 1m barrels of oil a day and aims to have reached 2.1m barrels by 2023.

Explaining the decision, which also affected the aerospace company Thales and the telecoms company Alcatel, the economy minister, Ali Abdulaziz Issawi, said the foreign businesses’ licences had expired, according to a decree that appeared online, and whose authenticity was confirmed by an official in the ministry. They have all been given three months to reapply for their licences.

Sarraj, who leads the UN-backed, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), had wanted Macron to explicitly condemn Khalifa Haftar for his assault on Tripoli, which started a month ago.

Macron only called for an unconditional ceasefire, a proposal the GNA believes rewards Haftar’s aggression and his international backers. About 443 people have been killed in the offensive with thousands in southern Tripoli displaced.

Fayez al-Sarraj (L) meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Sarraj has said he can no longer hold talks with Haftar about Libya’s future, and believes the international community should at minimum be demanding that Haftar’s forces withdraw, rather than allow them to hold their military positions in a status-quo ceasefire.

Macron, following his meeting with Sarraj, said any ceasefire line could be prepared under international supervision. But the Élysée statement added: “It was also proposed to establish, in the coming days, an assessment of the behaviour of armed groups in Libya, including those directly under the Government of National Accord, in close contact with the United Nations.” The wording implied that at best both sides were being buttressed by militia.

The text also reaffirmed “the need to fight against all terrorist activity”, a phrase often used by the supporters of Haftar.

Following his talks in Paris Sarraj travelled to London where he met with the British prime minister, Theresa May, and the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt. May backed the call for a ceasefire, and Hunt expressed grave concern at the situation in Libya. Although Hunt made no public criticism of Haftar, the UK’s position is that it remains opposed to the idea that he could be a military leader to unify the country.

But in the face of the weak French diplomatic backing, the GNA may have decided that economic reprisals were the best response. It has also threatened to end security cooperation. If the threat is carried out, Total is likely to challenge the legality of the Libyan government’s decision, and the move may worsen the deteriorating relations between Sarraj and Macron, pushing the French president more explicitly into the camp calling for Haftar to clear Tripoli of militia.

The GNA broadly believes too many western powers, influenced by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are sympathetic to Haftar on the basis that he claims to be combatting terrorism in Libya.