A branch of the BLC Bank in Saida, South Lebanon. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — MP Charbel Massaad (Independent/Jezzine) observed a sit-in with a depositor of BLC Bank Saida, South Lebanon, on Friday L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region reported.
Massaad told L'Orient Today he intervened to help the depositor recover his savings of approximately $2,000. The depositor was later identified as Massaad's brother, a source at the BLC told L'Orient-Le Jour.
"The depositor was treated unjustly by the bank," Massaad said.
According to the BLC source, the MP's brother, Karim Massaad, had recently deposited a sum in Lebanese lira equivalent to an amount of $2,000 at the Sayrafa rate (LL70,000 to the dollar) with the intention of later withdrawing the sum in dollars. When he returned, BLC Bank informed him that Banque du Liban (BDL) had not yet released the necessary funds.
"There is no refusal to pay his money to the depositor, it will be done as soon as the funds are released by the BDL," added the BLC source.
Charbel and Karim Massaad ultimately exited the bank Friday afternoon after receiving the "promise" from the institution that he can withdraw his funds on Monday, according to our correspondent.
On March 1, BDL announced a rate increase for Sayrafa its exchange platform, from LL45,500 to LL 70,000, and the ability of individuals and companies to exchange lira for dollars at this rate.
However, many bank customers say they have not yet recovered their deposited lira in dollars. The Association of Banks in Lebanon recently announced that Lebanese banks will resume their strike on Tuesday, prompting depositors to fear they may not be able to recover their funds before then.
This is not the first time a Lebanese MP has entered a bank demanding blocked savings.
On Oct. 5, Forces of Change MP Cynthia Zarazir entered a Byblos bank branch in Antelias, Mount Lebanon unarmed and forcibly recovered a portion of her total deposit at the bank — reportedly $8,500 — to finance the insurance deductible for a surgery she needed.
After leaving the bank, Zarazir told local media she had entered the bank as "a depositor, a normal Lebanese citizen to demand my right."
Exasperated customers regularly stormed banks in Lebanon, hoping to retrieve their trapped savings. Since the onset of the economic crisis in Lebanon in 2019, banks have imposed draconian and illegal restrictions on depositor withdrawals.
On Feb. 6, Lebanese banks launched a strike to protest lawsuits launched against some banking institutions, as they claimed. After suspending their strike for two weeks, the Association of Banks in Lebanon announced Thursday that banks will resume their open-ended strike starting Tuesday.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah.