Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib on Saturday stepped down after a meeting with President Michel Aoun, saying he cannot "continue the task of forming a government."

Adib, who was nominated to become prime minister on August 31, quit after almost a month of efforts to line up a non-partisan cabinet despite French pressure on the country's sectarian leaders to rally together to haul the nation out of a deep crisis.

Read more: Lebanon names diplomat Mustapha Adib as prime minister

"I excuse myself from continuing the task of forming the government," Adib said in a televised speech, apologizing to the Lebanese people for his "inability to realize its aspirations for a reformist team" to save the country.

He had tried to form a government of specialists in a nation where power is shared between Muslims and Christians and political loyalties tend to follow sectarian lines.

However, Adib's efforts faced several obstacles including the insistence by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to hold on to the Finance Ministry by appointing a Shiite finance minister in addition to naming potential Shiite ministers in the new cabinet.

Moreover, Adib was pushing for the adoption of a rotation system among Lebanon's political parties for the four sovereign ministries, namely the finance, defense, interior and foreign affairs portfolios.

Berri's approach to dealing with government formation came following the United States' move earlier this month that slapped sanctions against former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is Berri's top aid.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been pushing for the formation of a cabinet capable of implementing serious reforms in Lebanon, came in contact with Berri in an attempt to facilitate government formation but his initiative failed to change Berri's insistence that the finance ministry be retained by the Shiite sect.

Adib had hoped to be able to form a cabinet of specialists who are independent of the main political parties.

Crushed by a mountain of debt, Lebanon's banks have imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals and the currency is in free fall.

Talks with the International Monetary Fund on a vital bailout package stalled this year. The cabinet's first task would have been to restart negotiations.

Leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday that anyone celebrating the failure of the French initiative to get Lebanon's fractious leaders to form a new government will regret wasting the opportunity.

"We say to those who applaud the collapse of French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative today, that you will bite your fingers in regret," he said in a statement.

(With input from agencies)