A crisis cell composed of diplomats has reportedly been formed two week ago to follow closely on the developments in Lebanon, mainly its worsening economic crisis following fears of a dollar shortage and possible currency devaluation, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday called on the government to step down while urging the formation of a “cabinet of experts” that enjoys the confidence of the Lebanese and the world.

“The government is not doing anything other than trading blame, instead of solidarity and convening night and day to rescue the country,” Gemayel said at press conference.

Beirut MP and ex-interior minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has denied allegations accusing him of being behind the New York Times’ report about Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s alleged payment of more than $16 million to a South African bikini model.

“I was very surprised that my name was linked to an article published by The New York Time newspaper, which tackled a personal side of PM Saad Hariri’s life, and that I was accused of being behind it,” Mashnouq said in a statement.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday pledged anew to preserve the stability of the Lebanese lira exchange rate, amid an unprecedented dollar shortage crisis in the Lebanese markets.

“We remind everyone that the lira is the country’s currency and we will continue to secure its exchange rate stability,” Salameh vowed.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday warned that the government should not fail in addressing the country’s accumulating crises.

“I’m the head of the state and I represent the dignity of the Lebanese and the state’s prestige, and we all represent the executive authority and any failure for us is a failure for all authorities, that's why it is prohibited to fail and we won't fail,” Aoun said at the beginning of a Cabinet session in Baabda.

The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday lauded President Michel Aoun’s stance at the U.N. on the issue of the Syrian refugee crisis, as they called for an end to smuggling and corruption in Lebanon.

The president’s stance “demonstrated the severity of the crisis in Lebanon and the solutions needed for its salvation, especially as to asking world leaders to contribute to the safe and dignified return of the Syrian refugees to their country,” the bishops said in a statement issued after their monthly meeting in Bkirki.

A meeting between Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and cadres of al-Mustaqbal Movement has been called off amid fresh tensions between the two parties.

No official explanation has been given for the cancelation of the seminar at Mustaqbal’s headquarters in Beirut’s al-Quntari area. But MP George Atallah of the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc said his movement has obtained information that “Mustaqbal officials had asked Prime Minister Saad Hariri to call off the seminar following tweets by Strong Lebanon bloc MP Ziad Aswad over the past few days.”

British Trade Envoy to Lebanon Lord Richard Risby has ended a two-day visit to Lebanon.

Lord Risby is the first trade envoy assigned to Lebanon by the UK Prime Minister, a role dedicated to deepening trade and investment ties between the UK and Lebanon.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described the latest protests over the economic and financial situations as “a spontaneous and honest expression of concern.”

“Taking to the streets is a message addressed to all the parties who are concerned with finding solutions and halting the collapse,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc on Tuesday accused rival parties of “exploiting” the current economic and financial woes in a bid to “undermine” President Michel Aoun’s tenure.

“There won’t be an economic collapse and what’s needed is calm,” bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after a weekly meeting.