Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is reportedly facing a "difficult" task to control the currency depreciation after a decision that banks are to conduct currency transactions to control dollar exchange rates, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Lebanese authorities announced late Tuesday a bread price hike, the third in nine months, a move the government blames on a plunge in the value of the local currency.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc on Tuesday accused PM-designate Saad Hariri of seeking a “one-half-plus-one” share in the new government.

Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri held a meeting Tuesday evening with ex-PMs Fouad Saniora, Najib Miqati and Tammam Salam.

Lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast, Judge Tarek al-Bitar, on Tuesday questioned four officers held in the probe, the National News Agency said.

The officers -- State Security Major Joseph al-Naddaf, Army Intelligence Brig. Gen. Antoine Salloum and General Security majors Daoud Fayyad and Charbel Fawwaz -- were interrogated in the presence of their lawyers. Lawyer Youssef Lahoud, who is delegated by the Beirut Bar Association, also attended the questioning.

President Michel Aoun held talks Tuesday in Baabda with French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo, a day after a key meeting between him and PM-designate Saad Hariri failed to achieve any breakthrough in the cabinet formation process.

“The Lebanese-French relations and the latest developments, especially as to the governmental crisis, were discussed during the meeting,” the Presidency said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun met Tuesday in Baabda with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari.

The Presidency tweeted that Aoun and Bukhari discussed “the general situations and the latest governmental developments.”

Najat Rochdi, U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator and Officer in Charge of the Office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), on Tuesday called on Lebanon's political leaders to focus most urgently on the formation of an "empowered government, as a critical step to address the country's multiple and serious crises and implement required reforms," her office said.

"This step must be taken and can no longer be delayed," Rochdi added, in a statement released by her office following talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rahi told UN Chief, Antonio Guterres, that the Lebanese are waiting for the UN to play a leading role, amid Lebanon’s economic and political impasse, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The League of Arab States called on all political parties in Lebanon to “quickly” end the political deadlock that exacerbated the suffering of the Lebanese people," Sky News reported on Tuesday.