Greece has a new Minister of Finance. It is called Philippos Sahinidis and is a 49-year-old economist who is a member of the Greek socialist Pasok party. His place is replaced by Evangelos Venizelos, who resigned a few days ago, after having been appointed secretary of Pasok.
Sahinidis' first task will be to oversee the implementation of the consolidation measures Greece has committed to in exchange for new EU and IMF aid. However, his story will probably be a brief parable: by now the elections in the Hellenic country - called in advance of the expiry of the legislature - are upon us.
After having worked as a researcher at the association of Greek industrialists, since 2000 Sahinidis has been an adviser to the former socialist premier Costas Simitis, architect of Greece's entry into the euro. From 2004 to 2007 he worked at the Bank of Greece and was subsequently elected to Parliament.
