"I have been working the past few days on the government's agenda," the 66-year-old former EU Commission president said after Italy's supreme court confirmed his razor-thin election win in the lower house.
But even as Mr Prodi contemplates the composition of his cabinet, IMF chief Rodrigo Rato lost no time in highlighting the obstacles he faces in trying to kickstart a slumbering economy.
"We would certainly encourage the Italian government to put forward an ambitious agenda of reform," Mr Rato told a news conference in Washington ahead of spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank this weekend.
He said Italy's growth prospects may be picking up after a recent sluggish performance.
"What we cannot hide is that the medium-term outlook is troublesome. If measures are not taken, this actual outlook will deteriorate," he warned, citing Italy's high public debt.
"Italy is losing competitiveness so in that respect, rigidities in the economy have to be addressed. The sooner, the better," said Mr Rato.
Downgraded forecast
The IMF this week downgraded its growth forecast for Italy, predicting growth of 1.2 percent this year, well behind the 12-nation eurozone average of 2.0 percent.
Against that backdrop, Mr Prodi appears set to appoint an experienced technocrat to steer the economy, amid analysts' concerns that his majority was too brittle, and his coalition, comprising Catholics, liberals and Communists, too disparate.
Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, a former board member of the European Central Bank and front runner in what analysts said was a two-horse race with former EU Commissioner Mario Monti, had said "yes" to the job, La Repubblica said in an unsourced report.
If confirmed, the 65-year-old Mr Padoa-Schioppa will have the difficult task of sending an immediate strong signal to the international markets.
Adding to Mr Prodi's woes is Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's continuing refusal to concede defeat in the bruising elections.
Mr Berlusconi's coalition has already started to hone in on Prodi's knife-edge majority in the upper house, which depends on untested representatives of the Italian diaspora, allowed to participate in a general election for the first time.
One of them, Independent Senator Luigi Pallaro, an Argentinian-Italian representing Italians living in South America, has indicated that he had not yet decided which side to support.
His vote could yet be critical to Mr Prodi's Senate majority if as expected, he chooses a member of his coalition as Senate speaker, who is not allowed to vote.