Matteo Renzi, Italy's new prime minister, vows immediate reforms
Italy's youngest PM promises to stay the courseand acts quickly to appoint cabinet of low-profile ministers and formulate economic plans
Italian centre-left leader Matteo Renzi promised to start work on reforms immediately as his fresh-faced cabinet was sworn in yesterday, amid widespread scepticism that the new government has the political maturity to tackle the country's formidable challenges.
The new premier is expected to present his programme to the upper house of parliament tomorrow, before addressing the lower house on Tuesday. In his 16-strong cabinet, half of the new ministers are women and - with an average age of 47.8 years - it is the youngest government in Italy's history.
Renzi confirmed that OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan, who was forced to hurry back from Australia, would take over at the economic ministry, where he will play a central role in Renzi's bid to revitalise Italy's stagnant economy.
Padoan, 63, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony as he was only expected back in Rome later from Sydney where he had joined a G20 meeting of the world's major economies.
With a cabinet boasting no star names, the success or failure of the government will be down to the ambitious Renzi, who forced out party rival Enrico Letta last week.
"We're aiming to get started on things that need to be done from tomorrow morning," he told reporters after a 21/2 hour meeting with President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday.