Depositor storms bank in Lebanon to take trapped savings

A Lebanese depositor stormed a bank in the capital, Beirut, on Monday and retrieved his trapped savings, Anadolu Agency reports.

The depositor held the manager of the Banque Misr branch hostage to demand the withdrawal of his savings, a sum of $6,500, said the Depositors’ Outcry Association, a group that follows incidents of holdups in Lebanon.

The depositor, who was identified as Omar Al-Awar, later surrendered to security forces after retrieving his savings.

There was no comment yet from the Lebanese authorities on the report.

In September, Lebanese banks closed nationwide for a week-long period to protest holdups by depositors demanding the withdrawal of their frozen money.

Banks have imposed restrictions on the withdrawal of savings in US dollars amid a shortage of foreign currencies in Lebanon.

Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic crisis since 2019, leaving most people locked out of their bank accounts due to informal capital controls imposed by lenders.

READ: Lebanon to take steps to fix finance sector shortfalls – Finance Intelligence Unit