The chances of Samir Khatib to lead the new government are still high and President Michel Aoun, Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement are not opposed to the re-designation of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, media reports said on Friday.

“Samir Khatib is still an option and his chances could be higher than those of other candidates in light of the pressing situations,” informed sources told LBCI television, noting that Hariri has not suggested another candidate.

President Michel Aoun on Friday presided over a financial meeting in Baabda aimed at discussing the deteriorating economic and financial situations in the country.

A statement issued after the meeting said the president "proposed several suggestions to resolve the crisis."

People got caught in their vehicles that ran out of gas on Friday after gas station owners announced an open-ended strike a day earlier.

Citizens in the northern city of Tripoli blocked roads with their vehicles in protest at the crisis.

Demonstrators gathered outside Lebanon’s Health Ministry on Friday calling for investigations into fake cancer drugs following a rise in death cases reported by healthcare workers.

Two demonstrations were held near the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon in Beirut’s Zqaq al-Blat, one demanding the repatriation of Syrian refugees and another welcoming them on Lebanese soil.

Hizbullah has reportedly asked President Michel Aoun to delay the binding parliamentary consultations, allegedly relying that PM Saad Hariri -who withdrew his candidacy- agrees to lead a new government, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Friday.

For the 43rd day in a row, protesters demanding an overhaul of the political class continue to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government and termination of corruption.

The chances of the engineer Samir Khatib to lead the new government have surged and the picture will become clearer over the coming few hours, which might witness a complete agreement over the shape of the government and its premier, LBCI television reported Thursday.

Khatib himself meanwhile issued a statement about his meeting on Wednesday with caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

A financial meeting will be held Friday at the presidential palace in Baabda, the Presidency announced on Thursday.

The meeting will be chaired by President Michel Aoun and attended by the caretaker ministers of finance, economy and investment, the central bank governor, the head of the Association of Banks, the head of the committee overseeing banks, and caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s financial adviser Nadim al-Munla.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thrusday announced that the MPs of the Strong Lebanon bloc have signed a draft law on tracking the movement of bank transfers.

The draft law is “aimed at modifying the jurisdiction of the Special Investigation Commission,” Bassil said at a press conference, referring to a body affiliated with the central bank.