Lebanon's finance minister Youssef Khalil said on Friday that the burden of repaying depositors whose funds have been frozen by the economic crisis should not fall solely on the government.

Lebanon's financial system is estimated to have suffered from $72 billion in losses, but a recovery plan laying out how those funds would be recovered has yet to be finalised.

"The state cannot finance whatever and however is asked of it, and the recovery of deposits should not come exclusively from its own pocket," Khalil told reporters.