Italy's President Sergio Mattarella has asked Mario Draghi, the former governor of the Bank of Italy and chief of the European Central Bank, or ECB, to become the country's next prime minister, replacing Giuseppe Conte, who has been filling the post on a caretaker basis since resigning last month.

Conte had to step down after another former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, withdrew the support of his Italia Viva party from the coalition government in protest at Conte's economic handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Conte survived a confidence vote in the lower house of Parliament and also in the Senate, but he failed to secure an overall majority, leading to his decision to resign, in the hope that a new coalition could be built.

With the major parties having failed to agree on a new governing partnership, the nation has turned to Draghi, who has a wealth of experience in international finance.

He has kept a low profile since his tenure at head of the ECB ended in October 2019, but with figures showing that last year Italy's GDP shrank by 8.8 percent, its heaviest fall since World War II, Draghi could be the man of the moment.

Mattarella said on Tuesday night that early elections were another possible solution to the constitutional deadlock, but the restrictions of the pandemic make them a less preferable outcome than a new appointment.

"It is, therefore, my duty to make an appeal to all the forces in the parliament so that they grant the confidence to a high-profile government not linked to any political force," he added.

In a brief statement, Draghi said Italy was facing a "difficult moment". "I am confident that in talks with parliamentary and other groups, we will find unity and the ability to find a responsible solution," he said.

The right-wing opposition, which is growing in popularity, is still keen on the prospect of early elections. The Five Star movement, one of Conte's coalition partners, said it would not back a Draghi-led government, but the Forza Italia party has indicated it would support a "high-profile "government, and Renzi said the appointment of Draghi would be a "wise" decision.

The center-left Democratic Party, which was part of the Conte coalition government, also welcomed the prospect, with its leader Nicola Zingaretti saying that by approaching Draghi, Mattarella "has remedied the disaster".

In addition to its economic problems, Italy was one of the first countries in Europe to be affected by the pandemic a year ago, and has had more than 89,000 deaths so far, the second-highest toll in Europe behind the United Kingdom.