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Lebanese depositors, including one armed with a hunting rifle, broke into at least four banks Friday to demand their trapped savings, a sign of growing chaos in the small Mediterranean nation amid a historic economic meltdown.
Friday’s raids were the most in a single day, and raised the possibility that more desperate depositors would try to extract their money by force. The break-ins reflect public anger at the banks’ strict informal controls on cash withdrawals, a byproduct of the financial crisis.
In an apparent attempt to regroup and buy time, the Association of Banks in Lebanon said all branches would be closed for three days, starting Monday.
However, it was not immediately clear how banks or the authorities will be able to halt a possible wave of such break-ins. The depositors who have taken matters into their own hands have enjoyed widespread public sympathy, and have been treated with relative leniency by law enforcement.
On the other hand, a groundswell of bank break-ins could further destabilize Lebanon and its crumbling institutions, as the economic crisis drags on, with no end in sight.
Since the meltdown began three years ago, depositors with U.S. dollars have mostly been able to withdraw money in Lebanese pounds at a much lower rate than the real value. The losses are one of the factors that have pushed nearly three quarters of Lebanese into poverty and driven up crime.
Some desperate depositors have resorted to force.
“My brother has lots of money trapped inside,” said Ayman Soubra, whose brother, Abed, stormed a branch of BLOM Bank in Beirut’s neighborhood of Tareek Jadeedeh. Soubra, who spoke with The Associated Press outside the BLOM Bank branch, said his brother had been asking for his deposits for days but was rejected.
Hours after Abed Soubra stormed the bank, negotiations were still…
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Source : france24
