Italy’s caretaker government of unelected technocrats led by Mario Monti took charge of the eurozone’s third-biggest economy yesterday to the applause of Europe’s leaders and scepticism of investors.

Acknowledging the weight of the eurozone on his shoulders, the 68-year-old economics professor took on the additional responsibility of running the finance ministry in a slimmed-down 17-member cabinet.

He also appointed Corrado Passera, head of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest retail bank, as head of a “super ministry” combining industry and infrastructure, reflecting the new government’s emphasis on reforms to lift the stagnating economy. “All this will, I trust, translate into a calming of that part of the market difficulty which concerns our country,” Mr Monti said.