Head of Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should start preparations for a new parliamentary electoral law, noting that his bloc prepared a “law initiative” in that regard, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday said Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are seeking to sign several future agreements, assuring that a Saudi decision to lift the ban on travel to Lebanon has contributed to an increase in the number of expatriates.

Hariri, speaking at a conference on humanitarian work, he asserted that there is a real will on the part of Saudi Arabia to “deepen” relations with Lebanon, stressing it has always shown concern about Lebanon and the Israeli aggressions it was subject to.

The General Security Directorate issued an alert urging vigilance from Israeli agents trying to enter Lebanon under the guise of “tourism excursions,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Israeli enemy is trying to enter Lebanon by recruiting its agents in delegations under the cover of "tourist trips", in order to use them for security purposes inside Lebanon," said the statement.

As Lebanon grapples with an economic crisis pressuring the government into implementing austerity measures, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said he is “optimistic” about the capability to overcome it, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that the government is committed to fight corruption and squander, and is determined to carry out the necessary reforms for the benefit of the Lebanese citizen and public finance. He added that banks and the Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh would be ready to help.

Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab said the Lebanese army is not responsible for the budget deficit but “successive economic policies and waste of public funds are.”

Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh assured on Tuesday that Lebanon is not on the verge of bankruptcy, as the government prepares to impose austerity measures to combat the bulging fiscal deficit, LBCI TV station reported.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s media office slammed “fabricated” reports published in Hizbullah's al-Akhbar daily on Tuesday alleging the PM has suggested hikes in taxes and fuel prices as part of austerity measures planned by the government.

The office said in a statement that “al-Akhbar newspaper is specialized in circulating daily abuses of everything related to PM Saad Hariri. This newspaper said today that an economic and financial paper was allegedly prepared by Hariri and includes procedures in the form of daily fabrications of that newspaper.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri received Monday evening at the Center House Advisor to the Saudi Royal Court Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Rabeeah, who emphasized Saudi Arabia’s “strong ties with Lebanon,” Hariri’s media office said.

Religious leaders in Lebanon denounced the bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka leaving at least 290 people dead, the National News Agency said on Monday.

“Islam prohibits abuse of human life, what happened in Sri Lanka bears the hallmarks of terrorist and criminal aggression against the divine religions which call for respect in dealing with others," Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan said.