Alexis Tsipras appoints new Greek Cabinet much like the old

Tsipras keeps his core economic team essentially intact

Greece's newly re-elected prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, decided on Tuesday on a new cabinet with few new faces and returned the critical job of finance minister to Euclid Tsakalotos, the low-key economist who made headway with his Eurozone peers in bailout negotiations. Under pressure from Greece's European partners to start work on a barrage of economic reforms underpinning the country's third bailout, Tsipras kept his core economic team essentially intact. He promoted Giorgos Houliarakis, an academic who spent much of his time in the previous government in detailed talks with creditors, to oversee the treasury.

Houliarakis, who was finance minister in Greece's caretaker government during the election campaign, is expected to retain an active role in negotiations with creditors.

After a resounding election victory on Sunday, which allowed Tsipras to re-establish a coalition between his leftist Syriza party and the right-wing Independent Greeks, government officials have a great deal of difficult work ahead of them. Unlocking rescue loans from the 83 billion euro (about $92 billion) bailout program will require them to pass a mountain of legislation in the coming weeks. Much of it - like further cuts to pensions, higher taxes on farmers and a new privatisation program - is politically contentious.

Tsipras retained most key officials, including the Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis, who was also involved in talks with Greece's creditors this summer; the Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, the Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, and the Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis. A new department, to be supervised by Stathakis, will manage the distribution of EU subsidies in a bid to bolster growth.

Tsipras's coalition partner, Panos Kammenos, of the Independent Greeks, will be defence minister again, while Elena Kountoura, of the same party, will keep the portfolio for tourism, the only dynamic sector in Greece's anemic economy. A major change was to the interior ministry, which was assumed by the former health minister, Panagiotis Kouroumplis. The education and public order ministries also got new leaders.

Tryfon Alexiadis, once vice president of the Greek tax collectors' union, is to keep the role of deputy finance minister responsible for tax affairs. The ministry for combating corruption will be led by Dimitris Papangelopoulos, a former director of Greece's intelligence agency. He replaces Panagiotis Nikoloudis, the former head of Greece's anti-money-laundering agency.

The job of deputy immigration minister, part of the interior ministry, went to Yiannis Mouzalas, a former surgeon with the aid group Doctors Without Borders who held the post in the caretaker government over the past month, when the influx of migrants into Greece seemed to have peaked.

As thousands continue to make their way to Europe, often on rickety boats from Turkey to one of Greece's many Aegean islands, Tsipras is to meet with other European leaders on Wednesday to discuss a response to the crisis. The new cabinet was to be sworn in on Wednesday morning, according to a government spokeswoman, Olga Gerovasili, who announced the names late Tuesday after hours of deliberations among Tsipras and his aides.

@The New York Times