Italy appoints new finance minister to replace Monti

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will step down as finance minister and the current deputy minister Vittorio Grilli will take his place, the government said on Wednesday. The nomination is to be confirmed at a formal ceremony later Wednesday, it said, adding that a new committee to coordinate economic and financial policy would also be set up under Monti's direct supervision. The committee will include Monti, Grilli, Economic Development Minister Corrado Passera and Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco. A former economics professor at Yale University in the United States, Grilli is a graduate from the prestigious Bocconi University in Milan. Before his appointment to Monti's cabinet in November, Grilli was director general of the Italian Treasury. He previously worked on a major privatisation programme in the 1990s. He has also been a managing director for Credit Suisse and an adviser to companies including energy giant Enel and airline Alitalia.