Italy's Monti starts work to form new government

Former European Commissioner Mario Monti began preparations yesterday to form a new technocrat government to restore market confidence in Italy's battered public finances after accepting a mandate to succeed Silvio Berlusconi.

In a frenetic weekend of political activity, Italy's parliament approved a package of economic reforms agreed with European leaders, Berlusconi resigned and President Giorgio Napolitano appointed Monti, a respected international figure as head of a new government.

Monti is due to hold talks with the main political parties on yesterday as he looks to appoint what is expected to be a relatively small cabinet made up of specialists from outside parliament.

After a tumultuous week, when Italy's borrowing costs rose to the kind of levels that saw Ireland and Greece forced to seek an international bailout, reaction on yesterday was positive with stocks rising and the yield on 10 year bonds well under the 7 percent danger line at 6.4 percent.

A further test will come later when the Treasury offers up to 3 billion euros worth of 5-year bonds in an auction that will show how far fragile confidence in Italy's battered public finances has been restored.

Because the euro zone cannot afford the much bigger bailout that would be needed to save its third largest economy, the crisis threatened a European financial meltdown.

Napolitano said after nominating Monti that there must be an extraordinary effort to address the crisis and Italy could not wait for elections to solve political paralysis. He said Italy must recover the trust of investors and European institutions.

"I intend to fulfill this task with a great sense of responsibility in the service of our country," Monti said after receiving the nomination.

"In a moment of particular difficulty for Italy, in a turbulent situation for Europe and the world, the country needs to meet the challenge," Monti said after his nomination.

Italy's borrowing costs soared to way above a "red line" of 7 percent last week but markets calmed once it became clear that Berlusconi would go and Monti take his place.

Berlusconi went on television on Sunday and said he had resigned out of a sense of responsibility and to protect Italy from speculators. He expressed sadness that thousands of protesters yelling insults including "clown" had jeered him when he went to Napolitano's palace to hand in his resignation.

Monti's government will try to push through reforms agreed by Berlusconi with euro zone leaders to cut Italy's massive debt and revive a chronically stagnant economy. But he could face opposition from right and left to some of the more unpopular measures on pensions and the labour market.

There are clear signs that he will face problems, with Angelino Alfano, secretary of Berlusconi's PDL party, saying there was "huge opposition" among its members despite promising its support to the new prime minister.

The devolutionist Northern League, Berlusconi's partner in the centre-right coalition, also said Monti would face an uphill battle in getting parliamentary support for the reforms from a disparate group of parties supporting the technocratic government.