Lebanese depositors set fires outside banks in Beirut to demand frozen savings

Dozens of Lebanese depositors demonstrated outside banks north of Beirut on Tuesday, setting fires and demanding the recovery of their trapped savings.

The protest was called by the Depositors’ Cry, an activist group in Lebanon fighting for the release of frozen savings, to demand the return of depositors’ money and protest the lack of a solution to their case since the start of Lebanon’s financial crisis in 2019.

Dozens of protesters set fires at the entrances of Banque Libano-Francaise (BLF), Byblos Bank and Bank of Beirut in the Sin el-Fil area north of Beirut. They also smashed the facades of some banks, according to an Anadolu correspondent who followed the protest.

Depositors also staged protests outside banks in the Mekalles area, where they gathered outside a Byblos Bank branch and some attempted to set it on fire, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The protesters later moved to Bank of Beirut, where they burned tires to demand their trapped deposits, prompting intervention to extinguish the flames, the agency said.

On Monday, representatives of Lebanese depositors called on people to take part in the protest to demand the recovery of their money and reject any measures affecting their rights.

Protests against banks have repeatedly erupted in Lebanon since 2019 after lenders imposed restrictions on foreign currency deposits and strict limits on withdrawals in Lebanese pounds amid the country’s unprecedented economic crisis.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Lebanon is facing an unprecedented sovereign, banking and monetary crisis.

Since the crisis began, the economy has contracted by nearly 40%, the Lebanese pound has lost 98% of its value and inflation has reached record levels.