Eurogroup gets new chief

Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno was picked as the new head of the Eurogroup on Monday, with the key job of chaperoning much needed reforms across the single currency bloc.

The little known former central banker will replace outgoing Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem in January, and beat out his counterparts from Luxembourg, Slovakia and Latvia to win one of Europe's most coveted jobs.

"Centeno, the minister for finance of Portugal, has been elected as the new Eurogroup president," the European Council of ministers said in a tweet after the vote.

Centeno was long the favourite for the post and his victory came after two rounds of voting at a closed door session of the 19 Eurogroup ministers in Brussels.