After narrowly winning a no-confidence vote in his leadership, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou must turn to the formidable task of forming a coalition government if he is to succeed in passing a series of tough spending cuts.

The cuts are being imposed as part of Greece's multi-billion dollar bailout. Greece needs the next installment by mid-November to pay a round of debts.

If no reforms are in place before then, that means no bailout money and then Greece defaults.

If Greece is allowed to default, then this could cause a collapse in lending from banks across Europe - with countries like Italy and Spain also defaulting.

And ultimately, this could lead to another financial crisis that could be much worse than 2008.

Jonah Hull reports from Athens.