Hariri tendered his resignation after a discussion with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace.

“I withdrew from forming the government,” he told reporters, reported Al Jazeera. “Aoun demanded some amendments, which he considered essential, and said we will not be able to reach an understanding with each other… And may God save this country.”

However, Aoun accused Hariri of approaching him after deciding to give up on  government formation.

“Hariri rejected any amendments related to changes in ministries, their sectarian distribution, and the names associated with them,” the president’s office said in a statement, Al Jazeera quoted.

Angered by Hariri's resignation, his supporters and the members of his Future Movement party took to streets and blocked roads with burning tyres and trash cans in several areas of Beirut. Dozens of them clashed at Beirut’s Sports City with Lebanese soldiers who shot rubber-coated steel bullets.

In an interview with Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV, Hariri said he picked his candidates looking at their expertise and their ability to frame and implement economic reforms, but Aoun did not.

“I resigned in 2019 because I wanted a government of experts, and if we formed Michel Aoun’s government then the country won’t be saved,” he said.

“The main problem of this country is Michel Aoun, who is allied with Hezbollah, who in turn protects him. This is the equation in the country and if someone can’t see it then they’re blind.”

Following Hariri’s step down, the Lebanese pound hit a new all-time low exceeding 21,000 to the US dollar.

The ongoing crisis in Lebanon has already eroded 90 per cent of its currency value and left 77 per cent of households without enough food.

Al Jazeera reported that the food inflation is at more than 400 percent and more than half of the country's population has slipped into poverty.

Lebanon has been suffering due to a political impasse as the political parties have been unable to agree on a government despite pressure from France, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions on Lebanese officials for failing to form a government.

Hariri proposed on Wednesday a 24-minister government, which according to local media gave Aoun eight ministers, including the defence and foreign ministries.

The international community has called on Lebanese officials to even out political differences and form a government that would implement economic reforms to allow the flow of billions of dollars in aid and make the beleaguered economy viable again.

The Lebanese government is formed on the lines of a sect-based power-sharing system for its religious communities. Important political and security offices are given to different sects. The president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim, said an Al Jazeera report.