All you need to know about Italy's new PM Giuseppe Conte

Italy's president has approved a political novice who has never held public office and has been accused of embellishing his CV as the next prime minister.

The appointment of Giuseppe Conte is set to break a political deadlock that has gripped Italy since an inconclusive election on 4 March led to a hung parliament.

He emerged as a compromise candidate of the two largest parties after the vote: the populist, Eurosceptic 5-Star Movement led by Luigi Di Maio and the right-wing League headed by Matteo Salvini.

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The two leaders agreed to form a coalition government after weeks of negotiations, amid fears the eurozone's third-largest economy has been taking a populist plunge.

Their coalition now looks set to govern though it has yet to be sworn in.

A government novice, Mr Conte has already been embroiled in political drama after being selected as PM designate, only to quit because the president wouldn't accept an anti-euro candidate for economy minister.

The president then tapped a former International Monetary Fund official, Carlo Cottarelli , to form a stop-gap government of technocrats to see Italy through to another election.

But Mr Cottarelli stepped aside as plans to form a coalition government headed by Mr Conte were revived.

Mr Conte's original appointment was also initially thrown into doubt after suggestions he inflated his academic CV in an effort to boost his international profile.

His 12-page resume says he "perfected and updated his studies" at New York University during the summers of 2008-14.

But The New York Times quoted NYU spokeswoman Michelle Tsai as saying: "A person by this name does not show up in any of our records as either a student or faculty member."

Ms Tsai told the newspaper that the school does not keep records of people who attended one or two-day courses.

NYU also told the AP news agency that Mr Conte was given permission to use the NYU Law Library for research in those years.

The 5-Star Movement defended Mr Conte, saying he "never boasted" of holding degrees from foreign universities, but "stayed abroad to study, enrich his knowledge and perfect his juridical English".

Mr Conte also has to convince his critics that he has the independence to lead the coalition government - and not just execute the wishes of the parties that support him.

The law professor, who has a reputation as a snappy dresser, was born in Volturara Appula, a town of 467 residents near Foggia, in the region of Puglia.

The 53-year-old currently teaches law in Florence and Rome.

He graduated top of his class from the University of Rome in 1988 and now sits on several high-profile boards, publishing legal texts and advising on company administration.

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An expert in civil and commercial law, Mr Conte has also served on a government administrative justice council.

In that role, he presided over a commission that ousted a public administration official who had demanded that female students in his law course for aspiring magistrates wear mini-skirts to class.

Although he is not a politician, Mr Conte was named as a potential public administration minister by Mr Di Maio before Italy's election in March. Prime ministers do not have to be a member of parliament in Italy.

Mr Salvini has described him as "an expert of simplification, de-bureaucratisation and streamlining the administrative machine, that's what so many businesses want".

Both Mr Di Maio and Mr Salvini had hoped to be appointed prime minister, but an outsider was preferred to maintain the balance of power between their parties.