Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen handed in his resignation to the Nordic country's president on Friday as planned, paving the way for a new government to take over next week.
Mr Vanhanen's successor, 41-year-old Mari Kiviniemi, will hold talks this weekend with the four-party government coalition. Both Ms Kiviniemi and her new government are expected to win parliamentary confidence votes next week.
"The president has accepted the government's resignation and asked it to continue on caretaker basis until the new government has been formed," the president's office said in a statement.
Ms Kiviniemi, minister for public administration and local government, has worked closely with finance minister Jyrki Katainen and is not expected to diverge from the government's focus on easing stimulus spending and winnowing down deficits.
Mr Vanhanen, prime minister since 2003, said in December he would resign for health reasons, citing a leg operation that would require a lengthy convalescence.