Greece has a new Prime Minister and a new government which was elected on the rallying call of being anti-austerity and that of seeking to renegotiate the deals with the troika – the IMF, the EC and the European Central Bank.

But far from hellfire and brimstone, 40-year-old Alexis Tsipras took a more conciliatory approach towards his European counterparts – allaying fears that a Greek exit (Grexit as the buzzword goes) is on the cards.

Initial reactions from international markets and officials from Greece's bailout creditors were markedly unflustered. IMF Head Christine Lagarde pledged support and said she would look forward to discussions.

"We stand ready to continue supporting Greece, and look forward to discussions with the new government," International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde said.

The Eurozone Finance Minister’s Chairman Jereon Dijsselbloem said that while there is little support for debt-write offs, there could be room to manoeuvre in terms of “coming back to debt sustainability issues”. In laymans’ terms, this means that there could be discussions on extending the repayment periods of Greece’s existing loans.

It seems that while Syriza will push for some form of breaking away from the shackles of the troika loans, there will be a concerted counter-push – including from Malta – to ensure that Greece honours its dues. Greece wants to re-negotiate the terms of the €240 bailout loan. Malta loaned Greece some €11million and the government has already gone on record saying that it is against debt write-offs.

Tsipras insists he will not take any unilateral action against lenders from other eurozone countries and the IMF, but how he intends to handle matters is still unclear. His government has already hinted that it will not be engaging in discussions with the troika, but will engage in discussions directly with national governments.

The new government faces an immediate cash shortage, with a dwindling primary surplus, upcoming loan repayments, and limits on the money it can raise using treasury bill auctions.

If no progress is made, the government will be unable to afford to run its day-to-day operations and pay back debt that falls due in March in the absence of additional cash from international creditors. Neither Greece nor its creditors want Greece to default or exit the eurozone, so a compromise will probably be found.

While Greeks have said that austerity measures have almost killed off the country, in hindsight, history will be kinder to the outgoing government. While austerity has become unbearable for Greeks and given rise to mass unemployment and poverty, the rot needed to be stopped before progress could be made. While Syriza and Greece have a mountain to climb, a lot of groundwork has already been put in. If Syriza sticks to its pledge to negotiate better terms for Greece which would see its situation improved, while still honouring the terms of its bailout loans.  If Syriza does this, then Greece might be able to finally climb out of the very deep hole that it finds itself in.