Lebanon's Hariri says, our attempts is to bring public debt burden under control

Lebanon's Prime Minister on Wednesday told parliament that "we are certainly in a difficult time" as his government attempts to bring the country's public debt burden - one of the world's heaviest - under control. Saad al-Hariri added that the government had promised to issue a 2019 state budget in one or two months, but was trying not to harm anyone.

In a February policy statement, the new government committed itself to launch fast and effective reforms that could be "difficult and painful" to avoid a worsening of economic, financial and social conditions.