The new Lebanese government agreed on Saturday on the formation of a ministerial committee that would form its policy statement.
The ten ministers have a week to come up with the draft, which will be submitted to parliament for approval.
Speaker Nabih Berri told reporters that the statement “will be complete in a week.”
The government met for the first time on Saturday after it was unveiled on Thursday following nine months of political wrangling. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and all 30 ministers and was chaired by President Michel Aoun.
The policy statement may provide an early clue as to whether the coalition government can agree on the “bold reforms” that Hariri has said are needed.
It may also address issues such as Lebanon’s relationship with Syria and the Hezbollah party’s possession of arms.
During the cabinet meeting at the presidential palace, Aoun was quoted by his office as saying "there are many challenges ahead of us that we have to face," adding that there is no time to waste.
Hariri said: “There are difficult decisions in all areas that we must take”.
Public debt is 50 percent bigger than the size of the economy and annual growth has averaged 1-2 percent for years.
Foreign donors have pledged aid and low-interest loans to help the economy by investing in Lebanon’s inadequate infrastructure, but they have tied the money to reforms.
At the Paris conference last year in which the pledges were made, Hariri promised to reduce the deficit as a percentage of GDP by 5 percent in five years.
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