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ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Lucas Papademos, a one-time European Central Bank deputy president, was appointed Monday as interim leader of debt-riddled Greece's interim administration. The country's parties agreed to form a transition government that will help push a bailout package through Parliament before general elections are called, possibly Feb. 19, ekathimerini.com reported.
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White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters the Obama administration welcomes the consensus reached in Greece over the need to implement the country's reform commitments.
"And we urge the government to move as quickly as possible to fulfill the commitments required under its new rescue program," Carney said.
The Greek leadership agreement was reached Sunday after Prime Minister George Papandreou met with opposition leader Antonis Samaras. The two were to meet later Monday, along with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and New Democracy Vice President Stavros Dimas.
Greece has been under heavy pressure to strike an agreement before eurozone finance ministers meet in Belgium Monday.
In reaching the deal, Papandreou agreed to meet Samaras' demand to resign as prime minister and Samaras agreed to back the debt deal and a seven-point plan proposed by Papandreou that would commit the new government to the debt deal's terms, The New York Times reported.
The unity government will be expected to enact an Oct. 27 bailout agreement that writes off $138 billion in debt held by Greece's private creditors and commits another $180 billion to help Greece meet its remaining commitments -- provided the government enacts a new round of deep austerity measures that eurozone leaders said last week were not negotiable.
Greece must get its house in order quickly enough to receive an $11 billion installment from Europe's bailout fund by next month.
Greece, which says it will run out of money by mid-December if it does not receive the payment, was supposed to get the money in September. But the payment was held up because Greece was so far off the mark in meeting its commitments, officials said.
Eurozone leaders say the bailout's measures are their best weapon against letting debt-crippled Greece default and possibly bring down the rest of the union with it.
The Greek government change comes amid growing possible government changes in Italy and Spain. These countries' economies, the eurozone's third- and fifth-largest, could soon follow Greece in failing under a debt crisis, economists say.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi fought for his political life Monday as his parliamentary majority appeared to unravel ahead of a key vote by lawmakers Tuesday that could end his 17-year political career, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.
Italy's debt is 120 percent of its gross domestic product.
Italy's bond yields mark new euro-era highs, reflecting concerns that Italy could go adrift soon if its government isn't capable of enacting reforms it promised to the international community, the Times said.
The Italian yield rose to 6.66 percent from 6.38 percent at Friday's close. Traders reported intervention by the European Central Bank to buy Italian bonds, which eased yields and the spread slightly.
Spanish Prime Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Spanish Socialist Workers Party "will likely both be out after the Nov. 20 parliamentary elections," Maria Elena Ferrer, political author and principal of the non-partisan Humanamente consulting firm of Valencia, Spain, and suburban New York, told United Press International Sunday night.
Zapatero announced April 2 he wouldn't seek a third term. Spain's rising debt is about 65 percent of GDP, half that of Greece but double Spain's 2007 levels. Its GDP was flat in the third quarter, the Spanish central bank said. Its unemployment rate is 22.6 percent, more than twice the European average.
In France, Prime Minister Francois Fillon revealed new austerity measures meant to help clear the country's budget deficit by 2016, Radio France Internationale reported Monday.
France must save $137.6 billion a year to eliminate the budget deficit by the 2016 deadline, including $688 million in extra state budget savings next year.
New measures include a value-added tax increase from 5.5 percent to 7 percent, raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2017 and increasing the corporate tax by 5 percent for certain companies.
The government also hopes to reduce spending on public health by $963.3 million and increase some social benefits by 1 percent next year, officials said.
The prime minister said wage freezes would take effect for the president and government ministers, RFI said.
