The last obstacle impeding the formation of the new government was resolved Wednesday evening with the agreement of Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil to a solution under which Demianos Qattar will be allotted the labor portfolio, LBCI TV said.

“The government is expected to be announced on Friday,” the TV network added.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday defended Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh following a meeting with him at the Center House.

“The central bank governor has immunity and no one can sack him,” Hariri told reporters after the talks.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Wednesday condemned the overnight rioting on Beirut’s Hamra Street.

“Hamra Street is the jewel of coexistence, the hub of cultural clubs and launchpad of the national resistance, and Beirut’s main heritage remained there,” Jumblat tweeted.

Anti-government protesters blocked several key highways and roads on Wednesday afternoon, on the second day of what they have dubbed a “week of wrath”.

Groups of school students and a few activists blocked the vital Jounieh highway in both directions before being swiftly confronted by army troops. The soldiers managed to reopen the highway after arrests and scuffles with the demonstrators.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday condemned the overnight clashes and rioting on Beirut’s Hamra Street, describing them as “unbelievable.”

“In my name and in the name of parliament, we announce our strong condemnation of what happened on Hamra Street, which is unacceptable,” Berri said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers in Ain el-Tineh.

Security forces arrested 59 people, the police said Wednesday, following clashes overnight outside the central bank as angry protesters vented their fury against the country's ruling elite and the worsening financial crisis.

Cleaners in crisis-hit Beirut swept away shattered glass outside banks Wednesday after angry night-time protests over informal capital controls that left dozens of people injured.

Caretaker PM Saad Hariri denounced on Tuesday the pitched street battles in Beirut’s key Hamra street saying they aim at undermining the role of the capital being an economic center for the whole Lebanese.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon on Wednesday denounced acts of vandalism by protesters targeting the country's banks a day earlier. But the senior diplomat reserved his harshest words for Lebanese politicians, saying they had only themselves to blame for the chaos.

The strongly worded statement by Jan Kubis, the top U.N. official, came as violent confrontations between protesters and police continued for a second consecutive day. On Wednesday night, police fired tear gas and beat up protesters who hit back with fire crackers, water bottles and stones in a Beirut neighborhood. At least 35 were injured, mostly from gas inhalation or rock throwing, according to the Red Cross. Ten were treated on the spot.

PM-designate Hassan Diab held a three-hour meeting over the government formation with caretaker finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil dispatched by Speaker Nabih Berri, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.