Mitsotakis Becomes Greece's New PM

EghtesadOnline: Greece's new conservative Prime Minister Mitsotakis was sworn in Monday after a sweeping election victory put him in charge of the EU's most indebted member with promises to end a decade of economic crisis.

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09 July 2019

"The Greek people gave us a strong mandate to change Greece. We will honor it to the full," Mitsotakis said after taking his oath of office in a televised ceremony, AFP reported.

"Hard work begins today. I am completely confident that we will prove equal to the challenge."

Mitsotakis announced that the Cabinet will be sworn in on Tuesday and convene on Wednesday, according to Financial Tribune.

The 51-year-old Harvard graduate and former McKinsey consultant took the oath of office in the presidential mansion in the presence of his wife and three children.

He then walked next door to the prime minister's office, where he had a brief discussion with defeated leftist premier Alexis Tsipras.

The US-educated conservative faces a hefty challenge as he takes over from Tsipras, who imposed austerity measures required under a bailout to keep Greece in the eurozone.

The country's public debt last year stood at €335 billion, or 180% of GDP.

The debt load is forecast to fall to 168% of GDP this year, but only under belt-tightening brought in under Tsipras's Syriza party—something that Mitsotakis's New Democracy party says is stifling growth.

The tricky job of keeping Greece's international creditors onside while easing the hardship on Greeks—by lowering taxes and renegotiating fiscal targets—could result in a short honeymoon phase for Mitsotakis.

A Eurogroup finance meeting on Monday will convene to discuss the state of Greece's economy after tax cuts rolled out by Tsipras in a last-ditch attempt to win over voters May.

The former banker has pledged to create jobs and "steamroll" obstacles to business.

Those pledges wooed Greek voters who handed him 40% of the votes in Sunday's election, well ahead of the 31.5% given to Tsipras.