The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will still require a vote of confidence in Parliament to formalize its mandate, at a session scheduled for next week.

An unidentified source quoted by The Daily Star stated that the bill contains moves to resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and reforms in the Lebanese banking sector.

It took less than a week to reach consensus among all 24 members of the executive, including on sensitive issues such as the case of the armed wing of Hezbollah (Party of God), which holds to ministries in the future cabinet.

Information Minister George Kordahi noted that the desire to immediately address the country’s economic and financial crisis is evident, as a result of which over half of its six million inhabitants have fallen below the poverty line, estimated at 3.64 dollars a day.

According to Kordahi, the 24-ministry government bypassed the Central Bank’s (Banque du Liban) plan to completely lift fuel subsidies because it will take a final decision at a later time, he underscored.

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