Hezbollah expands financial wing as Lebanon’s banking crisis continues

Hezbollah expands financial wing as Lebanon’s banking crisis continues

BEIRUT: The Association of Banks in Lebanon has warned against “a plan to systematically destroy the banking sector, carried out by a group of no more than 50 mercenaries.” The association was referring to a group of protesters who set banks alight on Thursday. It released a statement saying: “The funds needed to pay off your deposits are not with the banks, so entering them by force, destroying them, or breaking their contents will not benefit you. You are only harming yourselves and reducing the chances of regaining your rights. The time has come for you to realize who took away your rights and who you should direct your arrows at and pressure to recover them.” ABL said it was baffled by all the accusations that its strike is contributing to the depreciation of the local currency. “If banks close, they are accused of devaluating the local currency; if they open, they are accused of playing the market. “The banks deposit their customers’ deposits with the Banque du Liban, in (accordance with) BDL’s circulars and in line with the principles of global banking. These funds were used to support the exchange rate and to finance the state, which then failed