Depositors start fire, smash facades of banks in Dora
A number of protesting depositors on Thursday torched the entrance of Banque Libano-Française (BLF) in the Dora area, trapping employees inside the bank.
Several citizens meanwhile rushed to remove their cars from the area to avoid the spread of flames to them.
The protesters also smashed the facades of several banks in Dora.
The protest, organized by the Depositors Outcry group, was held to demand the recovery of trapped deposits and to call for finding a solution to depositors’ plight.
Amid the country’s crippling economic crisis, a growing number of Lebanese depositors have in recent years opted to break into banks and forcefully withdraw their trapped savings, as Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed informal limits on cash withdrawals. Other depositors have resorted to protests.
Three-quarters of the population has plunged into poverty in an economic crisis that the World Bank describes as one of the worst in over a century. Meanwhile, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value against the dollar, making it difficult for millions across the country to cope with skyrocketing prices.
Source: Naharnet
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