Greece Names George Chouliarakis Interim Finance Minister Foreign ministry will be headed by diplomat Petros Molyviatis

By STELIOS BOURAS

Aug. 28, 2015 5:55 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

ATHENS—Greece named economist George Chouliarakis as the country’s interim finance minister Friday, handing him control of the country’s purse strings until next month’s elections.

Mr. Chouliarakis was Greece’s representative in the meetings of eurozone finance ministry officials and has played a leading role in Greece’s negotiations with officials from the International Monetary Fund and European institutions. He is considered to be a constructive interlocutor by European officials.

The country’s foreign ministry will be headed by diplomat Petros Molyviatis. Mr. Molyviatis has served in the same position from 2004 to 2006 with the conservative New Democracy government, as well as for a brief period in Greece’s caretaker government in 2012.

Greece Thursday named Vassiliki Thanou Christopoulou, head of the country’s Supreme Court, interim prime minister, ahead of the elections expected to take place Sept 20.

A presidential decree for the dissolution of Parliament and the announcement of the vote is expected to be posted outside Parliament on Friday, after the interim government is sworn in.

Mrs. Thanou, 65 years old, is the first woman to serve as Greek premier.

Greece’s leftist Syriza party is poised to come in first in next month’s elections, according to poll results published Friday, though the gap with conservatives New Democracy has closed considerably.

In the first poll results published since Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned and called for snap elections, Syriza is backed by 23% of voters, down from 26% in the previous poll held July 2. Support for New Democracy is rising, data showed, with 19.5% backing the conservatives, up from 15% previously.

The figures, put together by pollster ProRata and published by daily Efimerida Ton Syntakton, indicate the election result is wide open, with undecided voters comprising 25.5% of those questioned.

Write to Stelios Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com