All eyes in Italy are on Matteo Renzi, who is set to become the country’s youngest prime minister at 39- years-old.

President Giorgio Napolitano summoned him to a meeting at the presidential palace at 10.30am, at which he was expected to ask the centre-left leader to form a government.

The events have echoes beyond Italy’s borders – the country has one of most troubled economies in the eurozone and the new leader will have his work cut out to turn things around.

Renzi is promising radical reforms and a government that can survive till 2018.

To govern, Renzi needs the support in coalition of the small New Centre Right (NCD) party – in order for his Democratic Party (PD) to have a parliamentary majority.

NCD leader Angelino Alfano has put down conditions for his party’s support – the government must not be tilted too much to the left, and a contract must be signed.

If confirmed in the post, Renzi will be the third premier in a row picked by the president and not chosen by popular vote – following Enrico Letta and before him Mario Monti.

The wheels are in motion for Italy’s 65th government since World War Two.

This process is not widely welcomed in a country where a long-entrenched political elite, resistant to reform, has grown unpopular due to systemic corruption and mismanagement.

Enrico Letta resigned as prime minister on Friday after his Democratic Party (PD) forced him to make way for Renzi.

Up until two weeks ago, Renzi had refused the idea of taking power without first winning an election. But his mood shifted when Italy’s main business lobby and its biggest labour union publicly abandoned Letta and called for more speed on reforms.

Gross domestic product has shrunk by about 7 percent in the last five years and industrial output has fallen by 25 percent. Hundreds of thousands of companies have gone out of business and joblessness has risen to levels not seen since the 1970s.