ROME - Italian Prime Minister-designate Carlo Cottarelli officially gave up his mandate on Thursday, opening the way to a new government formation attempt by populist parties.

The top economist had been tasked by president Sergio Mattarella to assemble a technocrat cabinet on Sunday, after a first government formation bid by Five Star Movement (M5S) and League parties failed.

Cottarelli met the president late on Thursday.

"The president has thanked Carlo Cottarelli for his seriousness, sense of the institutions, and for the constant attention to the national interest that have marked his commitment," a presidential spokesperson said after the meeting.

The previous bid to form a coalition government by M5S and League failed after Mattarella vetoed their nominee, a Eurosceptic economist, as finance minister.