Lebanon faces economic ‘catastrophe’ says new PM Diab

Debt-ridden Lebanon faces an economic “catastrophe”, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Wednesday as his newly unveiled cabinet met for the first time.

“Today we are in a financial, economic and social dead-end,” he said in remarks read by a government official after the new cabinet's inaugural meeting in Beirut.

President Michel Aoun told Lebanon’s new government it must tackle the country’s economic woes, win back international confidence and gain the trust of the Lebanese.

“Your mission is delicate,” the president’s office cited him as saying at the cabinet’s first meeting. He also said the government would have to work to make up for lost time.