Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Lucas Papademos, a former banker and European Central Bank vice president, has been named interim prime minister of Greece, the Greek president's office said Thursday.
Papademos told reporters the chief task of the transitional government was to implement the controversial bailout package agreed to with European leaders late last month.
He said its formation would allow Greece to "face the problems in the near future in the best possible way."
"I believe Greece's participation in the euro is a sign of stability," he said. Greece is one of 17 European nations to use the euro as its currency.
Papademos said the course would not be easy, but that the country's problems would be solved -- and that would happen "sooner, at a lower cost and in a more efficient way if there is unity, consensus and reasonableness."
The new government will be sworn in at 2 p.m. Friday, the president's office said.
Papademos' appointment follows days of wrangling over the make-up of a national unity government needed to restore political stability in Greece, after several days of turmoil that have unnerved global financial markets.
The country is likely to hold fresh elections in February.
Papademos, a professor at Harvard University, was the governor of the Bank of Greece when the country adopted the euro in 2001.
The 64-year-old has advised outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou on economic matters for the last two years, the Athens News Agency reported.
A native of Athens, Papademos studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1970s, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees before receiving a Ph.D in economics, the news agency said. He taught at Columbia University from 1975 to 1984 and the University of Athens from 1988 to 1993, the news agency said.
Papandreou's office had said he would resign Wednesday, but that move was delayed until Thursday.
In a televised address to the nation Wednesday, Papandreou said that a government of national unity would do whatever was necessary to bring Greece out of its economic crisis.
The country will be stronger and more secure after it implements the controversial European bailout deal, he said.
Greece wants the international community to see that it knows how to be united in the face of difficulty, he added. "A new season is opening," he said, wishing the new government success.
Papandreou said this week he was optimistic about the formation of a new government amid the thorny discussions.
The outgoing prime minister triggered the political crisis by announcing plans last week to call a referendum on the bailout deal. Agreement on the package had sparked anger from many Greek people, already feeling the pain of earlier austerity measures.
The drama in Greece has shaken international markets, with investors afraid the new bailout deal -- which has stringent austerity measures attached -- may not be implemented.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned Wednesday of the potential for a "lost decade" if nations do not join forces against the "dark clouds" gathering on the horizon.
"The global economy has entered a dangerous and uncertain phase," she said, addressing the 2011 International Finance Forum in Beijing.
"If we do not act, and act together, we could enter a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability, and a collapse in global demand. Ultimately, we could face a lost decade of low growth and high unemployment," Lagarde said./omogenia.com
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