Power cuts biggest hurdle to investment in Egypt -minister

Power cuts dogging Egypt have become the biggest obstacle to luring back foreign investment after three years of political upheaval, the country's investment minister said on Tuesday.

Electricity shortages mean the country often has intermittent outages for hours a day, hitting factory production, frustrating many Egyptians and raising questions over whether foreign firms can operate here effectively.

Although he did not offer short-term solutions, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said the government hoped foreign investment would help alleviate the problem in the long run.

"It's a top priority for investment attraction," he told Reuters in an interview, promising that the government would soon unveil solar and wind power projects that he hoped would draw in foreign funding.