The Kuwait Investment Authority, the Gulf state's sovereign fund, has launched a firm with 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($167.8 million) to invest in Egypt's economy, an official said on Saturday.

'A 1 billion Egyptian pounds company was launched two weeks ago after getting the approval from Egypt,' said Bader al-Ajeel, executive director of the general reserve sector at KIA.

The sovereign fund also said that it expects a minimum return of 6 per cent from its KD1 billion ($3.62 billion) 5-year real estate portfolio, said Khaled Al-Hassoun, real estate manager.

'The returns could vary according to market conditions...the minimum returns expected over 5 years is 6 percent,' he added.-Reuters