Lebanon's central bank said Tuesday that depositors will be allowed to withdraw limited monthly amounts from their foreign currency accounts, nearly 20 months after banks denied them access amid a severe financial crisis.

The move is a small step toward instituting formal capital controls after Lebanese banks arbitrarily imposed policies preventing depositors from accessing their dollar accounts even as the local currency collapsed and a black market thrived.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday said the cabinet formation initiative led by Speaker Nabih Berri should have no deadline as he threatened to “bring Iranian fuel ships to Beirut port” if the Lebanese state does not resolve the fuel shortage crisis.

“We are against early parliamentary polls, because it would be a waste of time and it would deviate people’s attention from their concerns. Instead of talking about early polls, let them form a government,” Nasrallah said, in a televised address marking the anniversary of Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV.

The current week is supposed to be “decisive” regarding the formation of the new government, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Tuesday.

“Lebanon can longer bear… and God willing there will be positive results,” Berri was quoted as saying by Joseph Kossaifi, the head of the Lebanese Editors Syndicate, after he met with the Speaker in Ain el-Tineh.

Al-Mustaqbal MP Assem Araji said he expects a “surprise" position from PM-designate Saad Hariri in the "next few days," as the government formation stalls further and the country drifts deeper into its economic crisis, al-Anbaa electronic newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Araji said amid the continued “obstacles and conditions” hampering Hariri's effort to form a new government, the PM-designate plans to take a position that will surprise many.

Speaker Nabih Berri reportedly insists on making his initiative “succeed” in easing the hurdles delaying the formation of a government in Lebanon, the electronic al-Anbaa newspaper reported Tuesday.

In light of a shortage in medicines in Lebanon, the Association of Pharmacies announced in a statement that it would “forcibly” stop working for one day on Friday in protest at the worsening conditions, media reports said on Tuesday.

Hizbullah on Monday mourned Iranian Shiite cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, who as Iran's ambassador to Syria had helped found the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group in the eighties of last century.

In a statement, Hizbullah extended its condolences, praising Mohtashamipour for his role "in the service of the (Iranian) revolution" and in providing all forms of support toward the launching of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and the Palestinian cause.

The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee on Monday approved a draft capital control law after several months of discussions.

Al-Jadeed TV said the draft will now be studied by the Administration and Justice Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committees before being discussed in a plenary parliamentary session.

The French national financial prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary investigation into the actions of Lebanon's central bank governor involving potential money laundering, the prosecutor's office said Monday.

The French move came months after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at Lebanon's central bank, which is now at the center of an unprecedented financial crisis roiling the small Mediterranean country.

President Michel Aoun discussed with the World Bank Group Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Farid Belhaj the role of the Bank in providing Lebanon with assistance at the current critical phase, the National News Agency reported on Monday.