by cnbc.com -- BEIRUT — Lebanon’s prime minister pledged to stabilize the country’s economic problems and aim for a budget deficit of around 7% next year. Speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Beirut, Saad Hariri said: “I understand that we have a problem but I am extremely confident that we can get out of this problem if we follow through all the steps we put in front of us.” “What we are doing is, fixing our debt to GDP (gross domestic product), our deficit and the budget to 7.6% this year, we want to go down to 7% next year, or maybe a little bit less. And then, you know, continue on stabilizing this deficit,” he added in the interview aired Wednesday. Hariri also said he was committed to keeping the Lebanese pound’s currency peg to the U.S. dollar. “We believe in the government and in the Ministry of Finance (and) also the central bank, we believe that keeping the Lebanese pound at 1,500 is the only way, only stable way to move forward with these reforms.” On Monday, Lebanon was on the brink of declaring a state of economic emergency, initiating plans to accelerate reforms in an effort to save the country’s ailing economy. Hariri reiterated the importance of reducing the country’s deficit to reporters the same day, following a meeting between his cabinet and other political leaders.

by ahvalnews.com — Turkey has criticised Lebanese President Michel Aoun after he made a speech lamenting what he called state terror practiced …

by aawsat.com — Lebanon’s political leaders met Monday with the aim of finding a solution to the country’s economic crisis, raising concerns …

by dailystar.com.lb — BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Saturday denied Israeli claims about his party having factories to produce precision-guided missiles …