The Association of Lebanese Banks said on Wednesday that Lebanon’s banks would remain shut indefinitely due to continuous “risks” to staff and clients.
The closures come after a string of snags that have occurred in various parts of the nation over the past month, including at least five distinct bank snags last Friday alone as depositors sought to recover savings that had been frozen in the banking system.
After the nation entered a financial crisis in October 2019, millions of Lebanese citizens have been unable to access their accounts. More than three-quarters of the people are now living in poverty as a result of the local currency losing 90% of its value, and the majority cannot afford to buy even the most basic necessities.
An armed man invaded a bank in Beirut’s capital city in August and demanded access to money from a frozen account or he would kill the hostages and himself. After the bank granted him some of his savings, Bassam Sheikh Hussein turned himself into the authorities, claiming he needed the money to cover his father’s medical bills.
Hussein was praised as a national hero on social media after being supported by crowds outside the bank. One unnamed security source said that Hussein’s tactics might be imitated by others.
According to state news, a woman stole $20,000 from her account last Wednesday after attacking a bank with what she subsequently said was a toy gun to pay for her sister’s cancer treatment.
An armed man later that day broke into a bank in the alpine town of Aley and took part of his locked savings out before turning himself into the police.
Five banks were robbed on Friday, including one in the southern city of Ghazieh where an armed man threatened to set fire to the building if he wasn’t allowed access to his money after splashing the bank’s floor in gasoline, according to a state news agency NNA.
He found $19,200 and gave it to someone waiting for him outside the branch before turning himself up, according to NNA.
