CAIRO (REUTERS) - Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said on Monday he expects a referendum on the constitution, currently being drafted, will take place in the second half of January.

"I believe that it will take place in the second half of January," Dr Beblawi told reporters. The referendum had been expected in mid-December.

Egypt's interim government, installed after the army ousted the country's first democratically elected leader Mohamed Mursi on July 3, is pushing through with a roadmap that could lead to presidential and parliamentary elections next year.