Lebanese security forces and press stand outside a branch of Credit Libanais bank held-up by an angry depositor demanding access to his savings, in the capital Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on Oct. 5, 2022. (Credit: ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Anger continued to boil against banking restrictions in Lebanon on Wednesday.
New actions against the banks were carried out by depositors, including MP Cynthia Zarazir; a bank in Jbeil was targeted by gunshots by a disgruntled depositor; in front of Banque du Liban (BDL) in Beirut, dozens of activists demonstrated against the circulars that legitimize the illegal capital control measures. Other depositors threatened to set bank owners' houses on fire, blaming the Lebanese judiciary for barring access to their frozen bank deposits, Rami Ollaik, lawyer and founder of advocacy group Mouttahidoun told L'Orient Today on Wednesday.
A depositor entered a branch of Credit Libanais bank in Haret Hreik, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Wednesday afternoon to attempt to recover his savings, according to Hasan Jaafar, a founding member of the Depositors Union advocacy group. The depositor was retired army officer Hussein Shukr, who demanded his deposit to pay for his children's university fees, according to the state-run National News Agency.
On Wednesday afternoon, Shukr left the bank with part of his deposit after a settlement was reached with the bank.
Moussa Agathy, a spokesperson of Cry of the Depositors, told L’Orient Today that Shukr was given “his full Lebanese lira deposit, which is LL268 million, and $3,000 of his $48,000 deposit from his 'fresh dollar' account and left for home after a settlement with the bank was reached." Shukr's lira deposit amounts to $180,000 at the official rate and $7,000 on the parallel market rate. Agathy said part of the settlement was an agreement between Shukr and the bank to keep his account open.
Gunshots in Jbeil
Earlier in the day, Forces of Change MP Cynthia Zarazir was unarmed when she entered a Byblos Bank branch in Antelias, Mount Lebanon and managed to forcibly recover part of her blocked savings in order to pay for a surgery, the MP told L'Orient Today by phone.
In Jbeil, north of Beirut, a man fired a machine gun at a Bank of Beirut branch, after the bank reportedly denied him entry without a prior appointment. The man caused material damage to the bank but no injuries were reported, according to the NNA. Security forces arrived at the scene and said they an investigation.
Some banks now only welcome customers by appointment, or let them in sparingly, to prevent forcible actions by depositors. These measures were first taken after a week-long closure of the banks, from Sept. 19 - Sept. 26, in response to a series of operations by depositors who had recovered, or tried to recover, their funds by force. More actions took place in Beirut and broader Lebanon this week.
The situation may escalate further following threats made by Rami Ollaik, lawyer and founder of advocacy group Mouttahidoun, that depositors are "currently getting ready" to set bank owners' houses on fire, without specifying when they would do so.
Sit-in at BDL
The Cry of Depositors, an advocacy group defending depositors' rights and associated with previous actions against Lebanese banks, organized a sit-in Wednesday morning in front of Banque du Liban in Beirut, with activists burning tires and throwing rocks, the NNA reported.
Protesters demanded BDL cancel recent circulars that deduct "more than 70 percent of the depositors’ money."
BDL circulars have indirectly validated otherwise illegal banking restrictions imposed by the banks since the onset of Lebanon's economic crisis three years ago. Authorities have allowed de facto capital controls to be imposed in the absence of any law regulating these measures.
For instance, BDL Circular No. 151 allows the withdrawal of restricted dollars, known as "Lebanese dollars" or "lollars," at a higher rate than the official LL1,507.5, while Circular No. 161 authorizes banks to provide cash dollars to their customers, provided their accounts meet a set of criteria, by converting funds from their accounts at BDL’s Sayrafa rate.
The Sayrafa rate is lower than that of the parallel market. On Wednesday, the Sayrafa rate was set at LL29,800 to the dollar, while the parallel market rate was LL39,200.