The Lebanese judiciary has launched an investigation into reports claiming that nine Lebanese politicians have transferred $2 billion abroad over the past 15 days, a media report said.

The judicial probe got underway simultaneously with the investigations that are being carried out by the central bank, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday.

President Michel Aoun is insisting that the government line-up should be announced Monday, a day before New Year’s Eve, but the “Shiite duo”, especially Hizbullah, prefers to hold further consultations, MTV has reported.

The TV network added that Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab’s talks over the past few days have led to some progress and that he has proposed that the new ministers be “non-prominent political party figures or figures close to these parties.”

Progress has been made in the ongoing negotiations to form a new government, media reports said.

An-Nahar newspaper said the progress was especially reported following PM-designate Hassan Diab’s meetings with President Michel Aoun and the political aides of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Beirut home of Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab overnight, calling for his resignation less than 10 days after he was appointed.

Lebanon is without a cabinet and in the grips of a deepening economic crisis after a two-month-old protest movement forced Saad Hariri to stand down as prime minister on October 29.

Dozens of Lebanese protesters held a brief sit-in inside a bank in Beirut and another in the country's south on Saturday, part of their focus on banking policies they complain are inefficient and corrupt.

Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, while protests against corruption and mismanagement have gripped the country since October. The local currency has taken a nose dive, losing more than 40% of its value after over 20 years of being pegged to the dollar. Banks are imposing unprecedented capital controls to protect their deposits amid a deepening confidence crisis. Meanwhile, layoffs and salary cuts are becoming the norm while politicians bicker over forming a new government.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement on Saturday said “we must action” if the parties responsible to control “suspicious” capital flight failed to uncover the involved.

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A group of protesters on Saturday stormed some banks in Beirut to protest against undeclared capital control measures, amid an unprecedented economic crisis and nationwide protests gripping the country.

Dozens of angry activists stormed a bank saying one of their friends was not allowed to cash a cheque due to the control measures.

Naming of Lebanon’s new PM-designate Hassan Diab did not receive Arab and Gulf consent who consider Diab “affiliated” to the March 8 camp, “endorsed” by Hizbullah and “close” to Syrian President Bashar Asaad, Nidaa al-Watan daily reported on Saturday.

After decades of hard work, self-made Lebanese chocolatier Roger Zakhour thought he would finally be able to pass a successful business to his daughter. But then the economic crisis hit.