Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday held talks with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati in Verdun, in the presence of acting public works and transport minister Ghazi Aridi.

Jumblat declined to make a statement after the meeting. However, MTV reported that talks between the two men did not tackle the distribution of portfolios in the new cabinet.

Lebanon's economy should be able to survive the political turmoil that has seen the appointment of a Hizbullah-backed premier due to the strength of the country's banking system and replete foreign currency reserves, analysts say.

"The financial defense lines are currently the strongest in Lebanon's history," said Marwan Barakat, chief economist at Bank Audi, one of the leading banks in the country.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati visited President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday to inform him about the demands of the March 8 and 14 forces on the cabinet, An Nahar daily said.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that both officials agreed to give contacts more time to exhaust all efforts to form a national unity cabinet or a national salvation government that includes both coalitions.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday lauded Speaker Nabih Berri's remarks made earlier in the day from the Baabda Palace about the participation of all political parties in the new cabinet without prior conditions on the shares of each side.

Geagea said Berri "has always been courteous," but wondered whether the house speaker was the one who has the last word among his allies in the March 8 camp.

The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday expressed gratitude that the situation in Lebanon is fine despite complications and wished Premier-designate Najib Miqati success in forming the cabinet.

“We thank God that the situation in Lebanon is fine and we wish the PM-designate success in his mission to confront the current situation,” the bishops said in a statement read by Monsignor Youssef Toq.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati is expected to inform President Michel Suleiman about suggestions on the shape of the cabinet at a time when parties of the March 8 camp are competing over names and portfolios.

Baabda sources told al-Mustaqbal daily that Miqati would visit the presidential palace on Thursday. They said Suleiman is keen on seeing consensus between March 8 and 14 forces on the shape of the government.

Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb criticized Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, saying "he is acting as though he is the president of the republic and the prime minister."

Harb said statements made by Aoun on Tuesday "indicated that he wants no one else but him in the Government."

Druze leader Walid Jumblat assured March 14 forces that Najib Miqati's would-be government will not and cannot stop the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

"Miqati's government is not willing to terminate the international tribunal because no one, except for the Security Council, can terminate it," Jumblat said in remarks published Wednesday by Al-Akhbar newspaper.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday noted that the list of demands it had submitted to Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati last week deals with "a number of political, national and ethical constants."

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting under ex-PM Fouad Saniora, the bloc said it was waiting for a "clear stance" by the PM-designate.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati might not form his government before the 6th anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination, media reports said Monday.

Political circles following up the contacts on cabinet formation ruled out in remarks to An Nahar daily a final government line-up before mid February.