BEIRUT- Lebanon's President Michel Aoun asked ministers to start working on the 2021 state budget, the information minister said after the new cabinet convened on Thursday at the presidential palace.

The heavily indebted state is facing a financial crisis and must quickly decide whether to repay maturing foreign currency debt on schedule, including a $1.2 billion Eurobond due on March 9. 

(Reporting by Ellen Francis and Tom Perry; editing by John Stonestreet) ((Ellen.Francis@thomsonreuters.com;))