Lebanese lawmaker frees over $8,500 in trapped bank deposits

Lebanese lawmaker frees over $8,500 in trapped bank deposits

BEIRUT: A Lebanese lawmaker entered a bank branch, accompanied by lawyers, and freed more than $8,000 in trapped dollar deposits on Wednesday to pay for surgery, her lawyer said. Cynthia Zarazir, who was elected to parliament in May, is the latest in a growing number of angry depositors who have forced Lebanese lenders to unlock savings trapped under informal capital controls imposed in the face of an unprecedented financial crisis.

Zarazir, unarmed but with legal cover, entered her bank branch in a northern suburb of Beirut at around 9 am (0600 GMT) to demand $8,500 to pay for surgery costs not covered by her health insurance, her lawyer Fouad Debs said. She exited hours later after the bank paid her the sum in cash, Debs and the official National News Agency said.

Several activists had gathered outside the bank to support Zarazir, whose plight echoes that of the many Lebanese who have been locked out of their savings by bank restrictions that have tightened since the start of the country’s financial crash in 2019.

Commercial lenders have effectively banned most foreign currency transactions, forcing depositors to withdraw their savings in the plummeting Lebanese pound which has lost more than 95 percent of its