Italy's main business lobby today called on premier-designate Matteo Renzi to form a government "really capable" of tackling the country's ills, as he sets about picking out his new team.
"We want a government really capable of providing answers to a country exhausted by a crisis which has lasted six years and which needs to recover as quickly as possible," said Giorgio Squinzi, head of the Confindustria lobby.
"We dream of a finance minister who gets the job done, who takes measures to help the economy," he said, as rumours abounded in the Italian media over the possible line-up of Renzi's new cabinet, which is expected to be unveiled on Saturday.
The post of finance minister is a crucial one for the eurozone's third largest economy, which is struggling to reverse the effects of a deep recession and is lumbered with a public debt equivalent to 130 per cent of total economic output.
Among those named as possible candidates is Pier Carlo Padoan, a former Rome university professor who was number two at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) before heading up Italy's national statistics institute.
Giampaolo Galli, a member of Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and former Bank of Italy economist has also been touted, as has Lucrezia Reichlin, a professor at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Florence mayor Renzi was tasked Monday with forming a new government after his PD party ousted his predecessor Enrico Letta, whom he had accused of failing to implement promised reforms.
Hundreds of thousands of businesses have been forced to shut up shop and unemployment currently stands at a near record 12.7 per cent.
Analysts said it was Confindustria's anger over Letta's perceived failure to act to revive domestic demand, boost investments or create jobs which prompted Renzi to launch his power grab.
