Lebanese financial crisis 'unprecedented': Minister

BEIRUT (AA) - Lebanon's new Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni on Wednesday warned that the country's current financial and monetary crisis is "unprecedented".

The minister told the Lebanese al-Jadeed TV, hours after his appointment to the position, that "the domestic market needs internal and external efforts to overcome the crisis otherwise the crisis will lead to bankruptcy."

On Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced formation of his new government in a press conference held in the presidential palace in Beirut.

Wazni stressed the need to obtain urgent support from abroad and his government must decide regarding a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing in March.

Lebanon has been rocked by protests since October last year. The country suffers from high unemployment, slow growth and one of the highest debt ratios in the world, with the debt burden reaching $86.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Finance Ministry.

The unrest forced then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign on Oct. 29 amid the country's worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

* Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara.