Lebanese banks decide to stay shuttered over security fears

Lebanese banks decide to stay shuttered over security fears

Lebanon's banks will remain closed indefinitely after rejecting a proposed government security plan, a senior official with the country's commercial banks association said on Thursday, amid a wave of protests and heists targeting its failing financial system.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon initially announced a three-day strike, after at least seven bank branches were stormed last week, where assailants demanded they withdraw their trapped savings. Among them is Sali Hafez, who broke into a Beirut bank branch with a fake pistol and retrieved some $13,000 in her savings to cover her sister's cancer treatment.

Lebanon's cash-strapped banks had last closed for a prolonged period back in October 2019 for two weeks, during mass anti-government protests triggered by the economic meltdown. Since 2019, the banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of currency, tying up the savings of millions of people.

Since then, the tiny country's economy has continued to spiral. The Lebanese pound has lost about 90% of its value against the dollar, while three-quarters of the population has plunged into poverty.

"One of our demands is that we are provided with security to guarantee that we can keep the banks safe," Fadi Khalaf, the Secretary-General of the Association of Banks in Lebanon