Factbox: Egypt's new Finance Minister Hazem el-Beblawi

Egypt named Hazem el-Beblawi on Sunday as the country's new finance minister, replacing Samir Radwan who took up the position in January during President Hosni Mubarak's final days in power.

Beblawi, 74, must grapple with a huge deficit in the recently drawn-up state budget for the 2011/12 financial year, which began on July 1.

The uprising which toppled Mubarak on February 11 depleted key sources of state revenue but raised popular expectations, prompting the government to increase spending.

Beblawi's predecessor negotiated a $3 billion finance package with the International Monetary Fund, but it was vetoed by Egypt's ruling military council, along with $2 billion in financing from the World Bank, after it was signed in June.

The Egyptian pound has lost only 2.5 percent of its value since January, even though the uprising hammered two of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency - tourism and foreign investment.