Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to rebuild Greece's credit rating, create jobs, raise wages and boost state revenues after he was sworn in for a second term as prime minister on Monday following a resounding election win,
Reuters reports.
His centre-right New Democracy party got 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament in the repeat election on Sunday, well ahead of the 48 secured by leftist Syriza which ran Greece from 2015-2019 at the height of the decade-long economic crisis.
"I have committed that in this second term we will realise the big changes that the country so much needs," Mitsotakis told President Katerina Sakellaropoulou after receiving an official mandate to form a government.
The 55-year-old former banker and scion of a powerful political family was prime minister from 2019 until stepping down in favour of a caretaker premier following an inconclusive May 21 vote.
He has promised to push ahead with reforms to rebuild the credit rating after the debt crisis, boost revenue from the vital tourist industry and increase wages to near the European Union average.
Ratings agency Moody's Senior Vice President Steffen Dyck said New Democracy's victory was credit-positive. A second four-year term under Mitsotakis "will ensure continuity in fiscal and economic policies. In particular, continued focus on improving the business environment and banking sector health," he said.
He forecast Greece "will post one of the largest debt reductions globally," with its general government debt burden declining to less than 150% of GDP by 2025, from 171.3% at the end of 2022.
