Report: Lebanese Banks Freeze Dollar Accounts of Syrians

Lebanese banks have been ordered by the Central Bank to freeze the accounts in dollars of Syrians residing in their country, banking sources told al-Liwaa daily published Tuesday.

But a lot of Syrians, who have accounts in dollars, converted them to other currencies to avoid the pressure of international sanctions, the sources said.

The Central Bank’s move came after the U.S., the European Union and Switzerland slapped sanctions against Syria by freezing the dollar accounts of Syrian nationals living in their country.

Last week, Syria's central bank added the Russian ruble and China's yuan to its list of convertible currencies ahead of tougher EU sanctions, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"The Russian and Chinese currencies were added two days ago to the list of exchange rates of Arab and foreign currencies issued by the Central Bank of Syria," the bank's governor, Adib Mayaleh, said in al-Watan daily.