The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Wednesday categorically denied media reports linking banks to a dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate on the black market.

“The requirements of banking liquidity abroad, as stipulated by the central bank according to Circular 154, exceed $3.4 billion sector-wide, so is it reasonable for banks to draw them from the local black market whose volume does not exceed a few million dollars?” ABL said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday described the protests that engulfed all Lebanese regions on Tuesday as legitimate, as he asked Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to explain why the Lebanese pound has hit an all-time low against the dollar.

“The president of the republic, General Michel Aoun, has been following with great concern the protests that have been rocking some Lebanese regions since yesterday evening, after the U.S. dollar exchange rate reached LBP 10,000,” the Presidency said in a statement.

The United States seeks to provide help for the Lebanese people to address the dire difficult conditions, the US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said on Wednesday.

A delegation of the Lebanese Forces, Strong Republic bloc met the US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea at the embassy in Awkar on Wednesday, and handed her a copy of the memorandum submitted by LF deputies to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Lebanese pound plummeted to an all-time low triggering street protests and road blockades that extended to pro-Hizbullah areas in Lebanon, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported Wednesday.

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said that Lebanon was “cooperative” at the beginning of its indirect maritime negotiations with Israel, and that it later set “crippling demands” which affected the talks.

The Israeli army on Tuesday released a Lebanese citizen whom it had accused Sunday of crossing into the occupied part of the Kfarshouba Hills.

The 26-year-old man, who hails from the Hasbaya town of al-Hibbariyeh, was handed to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force at the Ras al-Naqoura crossing, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc on Tuesday warned over the “negative repercussions” resulting from the delay in forming a new government, urging PM-designate Saad Hariri to submit an “unambiguous” cabinet line-up to President Michel Aoun.

The bloc “is still awaiting the PM-designate to conduct the necessary consultations and cooperate with the president to submit a cabinet line-up that respects the norms stipulated by the National Pact and the constitution,” it said in a statement issued after its weekly e-meeting.

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday moved to file a report with the U.N. in which it asked for technical assistance in the face of a Mediterranean oil spill that has contaminated at least half of coastline.

The report, prepared by the National Council for Scientific Research at the request of caretaker PM Hassan Diab, highlights the magnitude of the damage, describes it as an environmental disaster and warns that the recovery could take several years, the National News Agency said.

Protesters took to the streets Tuesday across Lebanon after the Lebanese pound hit a record low against the dollar on the black market and amid severe power cuts that have plunged much of the country into darkness.

In Beirut, the protesters blocked the key Ring highway that links the capital’s west to its east. They also blocked the nearby Beshara al-Khoury road, another vital route, and the Verdun highway. The road outside the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut was also blocked later in the day with burning tires and rocks, with protesters there denouncing the dire economic situation and the Lebanese pound collapse.