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YANNIS VAROUFAKIS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

"The reshuffle of the Greek government is going to be treated by history with the contempt it deserves."

"Given the fact that for 24 hours we've been told (former European Central Bank Vice President Lucas) Papademos was Papandreou's last resort, the announcement that Venizelos is getting the job discredits the finance minister before he even moves into the finance ministry."

"The whole government is breathing its last breath. This is a transitional government that will be ineffective and will resemble one of the six governments in Argentina during its pre-default era."

NIKOS CHRISTODOULOU, ANALYST, MERIT SECURITIES

"The reshuffle is being viewed positively by the market. It creates conditions of stability even though the situation is still critical."

"It will be a difficult summer because foreigners are still asking for political consensus and the new bailout might not come before September."

COSTAS PANAGOPOULOS, HEAD OF ALCO POLLSTERS

"It's not an impressive reshuffle. The prime minister is only using party officials. It is a reshuffle that smoothes out imbalances in the party."

"What is important is that the new scheme is smaller and more efficient, and for the first time we have a body -- a government committee -- which is positive as a lack of coordination was obvious in the former government."

"However, with this reshuffle he mainly just recycled faces."

"I also believe that there was a political agreement between the two -- Papandreou and Venizelos -- and the question is whether in this framework the economic policies will change, probably toward a more popular direction."

BEN MAY, EMEA ECONOMIST, CAPITAL ECONOMICS

"From an IMF/EU perspective what matters is that they stay on the right path, not who says it. I wouldn't have thought it (who holds the finance minister post) would make a huge difference either way."

ALEXANDER KYRTSIS, ANALYST, UBS

"Venizelos is politically powerful and that might bode well for the implementation of fiscal consolidation, even though he has no track record in financial matters. His appointment means that the government will likely get the vote of confidence."

"The PM had to replace Papaconstantinou to appease his party."

Source: Reuters