Lebanon’s banks to suspend open-ended strike at PM’s request

 

Lebanon’s banks have decided to suspend their open-ended strike for one week after Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati requested them to do so.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon began their strike on February 7 to protest against the recent court ruling that forced one of the largest and oldest banks in Lebanon to pay out two of its depositors their trapped foreign savings in cash. The Court of Cassation ruled against Fransabank, one of the oldest banks in Lebanon, in favour of two depositors.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon said on Twitter, “Based on the Prime Minister's wish and the need to secure banking services to all citizens at the end of the month, we have decided to suspend the strike temporarily for a week.” Mikati requested Lebanese banks to end their strike. On Tuesday, Mikati promised citizens that the bank strike would end “within 48 hours”.

Many civil servants in Lebanon are expecting to get their monthly payments by the end of the month through bank accounts.

The economic crisis in the country has already affected Lebanese banks. Lebanese banks have also protested against the failure of parliament to enact formal capital controls since 2019. In the absence of an official capital control law, the people in Lebanon are only able to withdraw small amounts of their savings. It also prevented depositors from transferring money abroad.

The economic meltdown in Lebanon has left over three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million in intense poverty. The Lebanese pound also lost 97% of its value against the US dollar. The Beirut port explosion and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 further increased poverty in the country.

Last month, the United Nations said that 2 million people, including 1.29 million Lebanese people and 700,000 Syrian refugees, were facing intense food insecurity in Lebanon.