Los Angeles: Vassiliki Thanou, president of Greece's supreme court, was sworn in on Thursday as head of a caretaker government that will lead the heavily indebted nation until elections expected next month.

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos​ appointed Ms Thanou, 65, as the country's first female prime minister after leaders of the three main political parties failed to form a coalition to replace the government of outgoing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Her administration will be sworn in on Friday, according to a statement from Mr Pavlopoulos' office.

Greece's top Supreme Court judge Vassiliki Thanou attends a swearing-in ceremony as the country's caretaker prime minister at the Presidential Palace in Athens on Thursday. Credit:Alkis Konstantinidis

Mr Tsipras announced his resignation last week and said he would seek a new mandate after members of his radical-left party, Syriza, rebelled over austerity measures demanded by the nation's creditors.

The party won election in January on promises to end the deep budget cuts and tax increases imposed in exchange for two bailouts from Greece's European partners and the International Monetary Fund totaling nearly €245 billion ($380 billion) since 2010. Greece's economy contracted 25 per cent and unemployment soared to as high as 26 per cent over the five years of belt-tightening.