Egypt's new prime minister Hisham Kandil told Reuters Sunday that he is expecting economic growth this year as he hopes to woo investors.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER, HISHAM KANDIL, SAYING:

"For this year we hope that we will get around three to four percent, and then after that we will jump to four, to four, to five, and hopefully in a few years we'll come to seven percent."

He also says he will target subsidies.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER, HISHAM KANDIL, SAYING:

"And of course we need to also look at our expenses. Twenty to twenty five percent of our budget goes to subsidy. And not necessarily subsidizing the right people but actually we are subsidizing the wrong people, and we are overpaying our subsidy because of the inefficient system that has been adopted before."

Egypt's economy has been on the ropes since foreign investors and tourists fled after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.