Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday said that Lebanon is not on the brink of bankruptcy as it is being claimed, warning, however, that the failure to approve a realistic budget that reduces the state deficit would be similar to a "suicide operation" against the economy.

Speaking following a meeting with President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the Baabda Palace, Hariri criticized strikes being staged by public servants, assuring that most of what is being spread about the budget content is wrong.

"Things are not solved through strikes, and dialogue is not forced through pressure."

"We won't harm people with a limited income and you will find out that 70 percent of what is being said in the street does not exist in the budget," Hariri stated, hoping that the government will pass the budget at the end of this week.

"All sectors will contribute to the budget, including the banking sector," he added.