ATHENS -
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece on Monday replaced his finance
minister as part of a sweeping government shuffle intended to re-energize his
coalition after its weak performance in European Parliament elections last
month.
Mr. Stournaras is expected to take over the
top spot at the country’s central bank. He is credited with guiding Greece’s
return to international bond markets in April and paving the way for talks on
debt relief in the fall. But he is also perceived as having expended his
political capital after two years during which he led an austerity drive that
has slashed incomes and pushed the unemployment rate to about 27 percent.
The cabinet shuffle on Monday, which also
included the ministers of the interior, education and culture, was the second
since June 2012, when Mr. Samaras cobbled together a fragile coalition. It
comes halfway through the administration’s four-year term.
(Πηγή: nytimes.com)
