CAIRO - Two veteran experts, one of them was an ex-minister, were appointed as ministers of investment and finance as well as being deputies to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, a Cabinet source said Sunday as consultations were under way to select ministers for some other portfolios. Ten others ministers are set to be replaced. Hazem el-Beblawi, a veteran economist, is appointed as minister of finance and deputy prime as Ali el-Selmi, a deputy head of the secular Al-Wafd Party, is set to manage the investment portfolio as well as being a deputy premier, a Cabinet spokesman told MENA. Both new officials confirmed the news. "We will take over tomorrow after being sworn in by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces," el-Beblawi said on Sunday. He added that his job would be to forge a proper mechanism to improve the Egyptian economy and coordinate the economic group of the cabinet. El-Beblawi used to work as an adviser to the Arab Monetary Fund since 2001. His name was proposed by some revolutionary groups to lead the Egyptian Government. However, el-Selmi, a professor of economics, worked as a minister of administrative development. El-Selmi will be responsible for dialogue with political groups, he revealed on Saturday. The reshuffle will be announced on Monday. Ministers of trade and industry, local development, electricity, oil, waters resources, transport, civil aviation as well as foreign ministers are expected to be pushed out of the new Cabinet.
