The new centre-right cabinet of Italian Prime Minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi is preparing to be sworn in as the country's 62nd post-war government.
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Giulio Tremonti becomes finance minister for the third time, tasked with reviving Italy's stagnant economy.
Once the 21-member cabinet officially takes office later on Thursday it will face a confidence vote in parliament.
Mr Berlusconi has appointed members of both the People of Freedom party - a merger between his Forza Italia party and the post-fascist National Alliance (AN) - and the Northern League to key portfolios.
'Unknown quantities'
Correspondents say the new government's most pressing challenges include breathing new life into Italy's ailing economy and finding a solution to the untreated rubbish mountains in Naples.
Mr Berlusconi's closest aide, Gianni Letta, returns to his previous job of cabinet under-secretary. Another aide, Sandro Bondi, will be culture minister.
"It's a mixed bag," said political analyst Robert Leonardi of the London School of Economics, commenting on the cabinet line-up.
"On the one hand there are a number of people who we've seen before - the usual suspects - but there are also a number of new people, some of whom are unknown quantities," he said.
In the Corriere della Sera newspaper, columnist Massimo Franco writes: "He has created a government in his own vision and likeness, and this is a huge opportunity and responsibility."
Umberto Bossi, the firebrand leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, has been given the powerful reforms portfolio.
Another senior Northern League official, Roberto Maroni, will be the country's new interior minister.
Their party colleague, Roberto Calderoli, whose provocative comments on Islam have sparked anger in Italy and Libya, has been made minister of "legislative simplification".
"They just invented a new ministry without portfolio to get him into cabinet without giving him anything delicate," Mr Leonardi said.
(BBC)
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