Egypt's outgoing housing minister, Ibrahim Mahlab, has said he had been asked to become the prime minister and form a new government, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper has reported on its website.

Mahlab was speaking after meeting the interim president, Adly Mansour, who officially asked him to form the new cabinet.

Mahlab said he would begin consultations immediately, Al-Ahram said.

The government of the interim prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, resigned on Monday. Beblawi was appointed in July after the removal by the military of the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

Mahlab, a former official in the government of the deposed president Hosni Mubarak, is a civil engineer who formerly served as chairman and chief executive of the Arab Contractors Company, a large Egyptian civil engineering firm.

A profile distributed by the housing ministry said Mahlab is married and speaks English and French.

Reuters