As cash runs short at Lebanon’s banks, so has the patience of depositors. Hit by restrictions on withdrawals, some are taking extreme steps, occupying branches and in one case taking an employee hostage, to squeeze what they can from their accounts.
Lebanon’s financial crisis and dollar shortage have prompted commercial banks to impose strict caps on withdrawing dollars and a block on most transfers abroad, leaving Lebanese, many of whom are paid in dollars, strapped for cash.
Since protests directed at the country’s elite erupted on October 17, commercial banks seen as bearing part of the blame for the crisis have been targeted, including in late-night riots which left bank facades smashed and ATMs destroyed in Beirut’s Hamra district.
With withdrawal caps set at a few hundred dollars per week, some depositors have tried to strong-arm their way to their cash.
Lebanon has seen 101 incidents at banks from November 1 to January 13, ranging from scuffles and sit-ins to more violent assaults on bank branches, according to security sources. “It’s like a snowball, growing each day,” said a security source. “It’s starting to reach a choking point and people are suffocating.”
When one depositor who identified herself only as Lama and five colleagues from the southern city of Sidon were denied $400 their bank had promised, they returned with 10 protesters in a show of force. The group stormed the branch, Lama said, scuffling with security and bank employees before the branch manager agreed to give Lama and her colleagues $400 per week.
“What I discovered is that with pressure or fear from us... they give in,” said Lama.
Videos on social media show similar incidents — depositors joined by protesters storming banks, sometimes charging at security, hurling chairs and demanding money from their accounts. Reuters could not independently verify the videos.
When another bank in Sidon refused to cash Mostafa al-Bitar’s cheque, he returned with his company’s forklift and two trucks and blocked its entrance. The branch manager cashed the cheque.
