Factbox: Egypt's finance minister is expert on Islamic economics

(Reuters) - Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy, an expert on public finance and Islamic economics, was sworn in on Sunday as Egyptian finance minister.

Here are some facts about him:

* Egyptian media reports described him as being close to the Muslim Brotherhood, an assessment shared by a colleague speaking privately. A spokesman for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party denied reports that he was a member of the Brotherhood.

* Hegazy obtained a master's degree in economics from Alexandria University in 1976 and a doctorate in 1985 from the University of Connecticut in the United States, according to a copy of his CV provided by Alexandria University. His doctoral research was on how oil contributed to Kuwait's economic growth.

* At the time of his appointment, Hegazy was working as a professor at Alexandria University's Faculty of Commerce, specializing in public finance. From 1990 to 1996, he worked at Saudi Arabia's King Saud University, heading its department of economics from 1995 to 1996.

* His academic work includes studies on privatization, the World Trade Organization and fiscal systems, including a publication entitled "The Islamic Fiscal System".

* His CV lists two dozen works on Islamic economics that he either researched or reviewed. These include one on "Forms of Islamic finance and dealing with budget deficits in the Islamic environment".

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)