Lebanese cabinet to meet on Saturday

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's cabinet will meet for the first time in weeks on Saturday, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Friday, after rival Druze politicians held a reconciliation meeting to end a crisis that paralysed the government.

Lebanese dollar-demominated bonds rallied earlier on Friday on the news that the country's leaders would meet to reconcile Walid Jumblatt and Talal Arslan.

In a televised statement Hariri said a reconciliation had taken place between the two.

“God willing, from today onwards, there will be a new page and we will all cooperate together in the interests of the country and in the interests of the Lebanese citizen,” he said.

Hariri was speaking after a meeting between Lebanon's top officials to discuss the economy, and he said they were committed to approving the 2020 budget on time and sticking to the 2019 budget, which was passed last month.

The standoff between Jumblatt and Arslan's political parties was sparked by a shooting in the Chouf mountains on June 30 in which two aides of a government minister, Saleh al-Gharib, an ally of Arslan, were killed.

With both sides represented in Hariri's cabinet, the government was unable to convene, complicating efforts to enact reforms that are urgently needed to steer the country away from financial crisis.