New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras was sworn in Wednesday as Greece's new prime minister, following months of political uncertainty for the debt-stricken country.

He was inaugurated at the presidential mansion after meeting with President Karolos Papoulias, who asked him to form a new Greek government.

His swearing-in followed the news that three parties -- the center-right New Democracy, which placed first in Sunday's vote, Pasok and the Democratic Party of the Left -- had reached agreement on the terms for the coalition.

The new government is expected to be sworn in Thursday, state broadcaster ERT said.

Speaking as he left the presidential mansion, Samaras said: "We trust that with God's help we will do all we can to get our people out of the crisis. I will ask the government tomorrow morning to work hard in order to be able to give tangible hope to our people."

Greece has been without an elected government for 223 days, and the new government, which has pledged to push for a renegotiation of the painful austerity measures imposed under the terms of an international bailout, will face significant challenges.

The country is struggling to get out of the political and financial mire that threatens to drag down Europe's common currency and spark a new global financial crisis.

Samaras met with the heads of his two coalition partners, Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Party of the Left Wednesday evening, ERT reported.

Discussions continue on the government's exact makeup, Venizelos said earlier, but it is not expected to include members of the two junior parties in senior Cabinet posts.

"Greece has a government. ... That is the message that we need to send abroad," Venizelos said as he announced the deal in a televised statement.

The most critical issue for the new government is the formation of a national task force to renegotiate the terms of Greece's unpopular international bailout, he said.

Greece will go to a two-day summit in Brussels later this month determined to push fellow European leaders on the issue, he added.

Venizelos said it is unfortunate that the anti-austerity party Syriza, which placed second in the election, had declined to join the other parties in seeking the best way forward for the country.

New Democracy, which broadly favors Greece meeting international debt obligations, led the talks on forming a coalition after narrowly taking first place in Sunday's election. The socialist Pasok party placed third.

Dr. Vassilis Monastiriotis of the Hellenic Observatory at the London School of Economics, said it is a positive step that Greece now has a government, but few details about key appointments or policies are yet known.

The Cabinet will be dominated by ministers from New Democracy, after its partners said they would support the government but did not want to be part of it, he said. However, it may include a couple of technocrats from Pasok and a representative from the Democratic Left.

Venizelos's focus on the negotiating team that will seek to amend the terms of Greece's bailout deal, rather than the Cabinet, may signal his desire to be part of that team, Monastiriotis noted.

An early test for the new government will be the Brussels summit on June 28-29, when it will seek to present a strong front to European leaders as it puts forward proposals on changing the terms of the loan agreement and new investment for growth, he said.

While few specifics are known, all three parties are keen to renegotiate a provision under which Greece's current minimum wage of 750 euros a month (about $950) would be cut by 22%, Monastiriotis said.

But, he said: "There's no decision about how (they) actually deal with the immediate problems of acute poverty in parts of society and problems of tax collection."