Italy crisis: Mario Monti moves to form new government
Mario Monti is starting work to form a new government to lead Italy out of its acute debt crisis which prompted the resignation of PM Silvio Berlusconi.
The appointment of Mr Monti, an ex-EU commissioner, was announced by Italy's president on Sunday.
Mr Monti said he wanted to build "a future of dignity and hope" for Italy's children.
European financial markets opened slightly up on Monday morning, a sign of increased optimism about Italy.
Asian stocks also closed up, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surging 2% to 19,508.18 and Japan's Nikkei closing up 1.1% at 8,603.70. The euro rose against the dollar on Asian markets.
Another test of Mr Monti's appointment will come later, when Italian government bonds are auctioned.
The interest rate at which the bonds sell will reflect whether the markets have confidence in Mr Monti's ability to rescue Italy from debt.
The former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was forced to resign when the yield on Italian bonds rose to over 7% last week, the rate at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal were obliged to seek bailouts from the EU.
'Strength not weakness'
Mr Monti, a 68-year-old economics professor, refused to set a timetable for the formation of a new government, and would not say who he planned to nominate as ministers. But he said consultations would start on Monday.
The formal confirmation of the new technocratic government could take several days.
Italy's borrowing costs have spiked, threatening the eurozone. Hailing Mr Monti's appointment, EU leaders vowed to monitor Italy's austerity measures.
President Giorgio Napolitano held 17 meetings with senior politicians before nominating Mr Monti as Prime Minister.
Most parties, including Mr Berlusconi's, approved his nomination.
Speaking to reporters shortly afterwards, Mr Monti said: "Italy must again be, and must increasingly be, an element of strength, not weakness, in a European Union that we helped found and in which we should be protagonists."
"We will aim at solving the financial situation and resume the path of growth, while remaining attentive to social equity".
Mr Monti promised he would act "with urgency" and work with parliament "to get out quickly from a situation which has elements of an emergency but which Italy can overcome with a united effort".
Mr Napolitano said the nomination was not about overturning the result of the elections of 2008 - but Italy needed a government that "could unite the diverse political forces in an extraordinary effort warranted by the current financial and economic emergency".
Asked about the lifespan of a Monti government, Mr Napolitano said this depended on "the actions of the government, the reaction of the economy, of the markets, investors, of the European and international institutions".
'Encouraging signal'
Mr Monti's appointment is favoured in financial circles
Speaking in a recorded TV address, Mr Berlusconi said he would support a technocrat government and redouble his own efforts in parliament to modernise Italy.
Most centrists and centre-left parties in the opposition have already pledged their support.
However, Mr Berlusconi's main coalition ally, the Northern League, has withheld its support until Mr Monti's policies have become clear.
Mr Berlusconi, who had lost his parliamentary majority, resigned on Saturday after new austerity measures were passed by both houses of parliament.
In Brussels, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and EU President Herman Van Rompuy issued a joint statement welcoming Mr Monti's appointment.
It sent "a further encouraging signal... of the Italian authorities' determination to overcome the current crisis", they said.
The Commission, they added, would continue monitoring "the implementation of measures taken by Italy with the aim of pursuing policies that foster growth and employment".
Mr Monti's appointment comes two days after Greece, under even greater pressure from Brussels, inaugurated a technocrat government to cope with its debt problems.
Greece's new interim leader, Lucas Papademos, will lead the government through ratifying a vital bailout deal from the EU.
He will face a confidence vote in the Greek parliament on Wednesday, before attending a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
Mr Monti, a well-respected economist, is exactly the sort of man that the markets would like to see take charge at this time of crisis, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome, and he has support in many quarters.
But there is significant opposition to him within the country, and a feeling that Italy's troubles are just too deep for a mere change of government to make any rapid, significant difference.
The austerity package foresees 59.8bn euros in savings from a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises, with the aim of balancing the budget by 2014. Measures include sales of state property, a freeze on public-sector salaries until 2014 and measures to fight widespread tax evasion.
The Italian economy has grown at an average of 0.75% a year over the past 15 years.
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