As Lebanon grapples with an economic crisis pressuring the government into implementing austerity measures, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said he is “optimistic” about the capability to overcome it, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that the government is committed to fight corruption and squander, and is determined to carry out the necessary reforms for the benefit of the Lebanese citizen and public finance. He added that banks and the Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh would be ready to help.

Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab said the Lebanese army is not responsible for the budget deficit but “successive economic policies and waste of public funds are.”

Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh assured on Tuesday that Lebanon is not on the verge of bankruptcy, as the government prepares to impose austerity measures to combat the bulging fiscal deficit, LBCI TV station reported.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s media office slammed “fabricated” reports published in Hizbullah's al-Akhbar daily on Tuesday alleging the PM has suggested hikes in taxes and fuel prices as part of austerity measures planned by the government.

The office said in a statement that “al-Akhbar newspaper is specialized in circulating daily abuses of everything related to PM Saad Hariri. This newspaper said today that an economic and financial paper was allegedly prepared by Hariri and includes procedures in the form of daily fabrications of that newspaper.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri received Monday evening at the Center House Advisor to the Saudi Royal Court Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Rabeeah, who emphasized Saudi Arabia’s “strong ties with Lebanon,” Hariri’s media office said.

Religious leaders in Lebanon denounced the bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka leaving at least 290 people dead, the National News Agency said on Monday.

“Islam prohibits abuse of human life, what happened in Sri Lanka bears the hallmarks of terrorist and criminal aggression against the divine religions which call for respect in dealing with others," Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan said.

After reported claims that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned of an Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer, fearing he could be killed, US sources said “Israel will not be the one to fire the first bullet but is ready to fight back in defense,” the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported on Monday.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry reportedly revealed that Lebanon “will not participate in the next fresh round of Astana talks that will take place in Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan on April 25-26,” the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Monday.

Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said on Saturday that Hizbullah will not let the poor pay for the economic crisis, the National News Agency said.

“Hizbullah will not let a solution to the economic and financial crisis be made at the expense of the poor. Those who think of a solution from the pockets of the poor are merely creating a new crisis,” said Qaouq.