The euro has fallen
sharply against the dollar after the anti-austerity Syriza party won the Greek
general election.
But he said his
government wanted a negotiation, not confrontation, with its international
lenders. "The new Greek government will be ready to co-operate and
negotiate for the first time with our peers a just, mutually beneficial and
viable solution," Mr Tsipras said.
The troika of lenders
that bailed out Greece - the European Union, European Central Bank, and
International Monetary Fund - imposed big budgetary cuts and restructuring in
return for the money.
But Mr Tsipras said:
"The troika for Greece is the thing of the past." Greece's current
bailout programme ends in February, and economists say a short term deal will
be negotiated, but difficult talks lie ahead. Germany has indicated that it is
not prepared to renegotiate the bailout terms, raising the prospect that Greece
could end up leaving the eurozone.
"There is a
danger of a prolonged stand-off with the troika as Syriza attempts to negotiate
some form of official debt restructuring while not reneging on its promises to
voters to cut taxes, raise government spending and increase the minimum
wage," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital
Economics.
