Lebanon PM-designate urges immediate reforms

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib called on Monday for the formation of a new government in record time.

He also urged immediate reforms as a step towards securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

He spoke after being designated premier, hours before the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron, whose pressure on Lebanon's fractious leaders was crucial to forging an agreement on Adib, Beirut's ambassador to Berlin.

"The opportunity for our country is small and the mission I have accepted is based on all the political forces acknowledging that," Adib told reporters.

Donor states want Lebanon to carry out long-delayed reforms to stamp out state corruption and waste in order to release financial support.

The previous government launched talks with the IMF in May but these stalled amid divisions on the Lebanese side over the scale of losses in the financial system.

That government quit on Aug. 10 in the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion at Beirut port that killed some 190 people.

Adib said a new government must be formed in record time and reforms must be implemented immediately.