On the black market on Monday, the Lebanese pound hit a new low against the US dollar as a severe economic downturn spurred bank hold-ups by irate depositors and anti-government demonstrations.
There have been a number of events in recent weeks where people held up banks with real or toy firearms to demand access to their frozen savings, only to be hailed as folk heroes.
According to websites tracking the exchange rate, the pound dropped to 38,600 against the dollar on Monday amid the unrest, a record low for the troubled currency.
The Lebanese pound was fixed at 1,507 to the dollar for decades, therefore since 2019, it has lost about 95% of its value on the black market.
At the Justice Palace in Beirut on Monday, dozens stormed through a metal gate outside to protest the detention of two people involved in last week’s bank hold-ups.
Elsewhere, activists angered by Lebanon’s deep economic crash blockaded roads in the capital and in the northern port city of Tripoli.
A financial crash widely blamed on government corruption and mismanagement has caused the worst economic crisis in Lebanon’s history.
Lebanese banker Saeb El-Zein said the pound’s decline was due to rising demand for dollars on the black market following the government’s decision to lift state subsidies, including on fuel.
– ‘Slow progress –
With four out of five Lebanese now living in poverty according to the United Nations, the country has been desperately seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.An IMF delegation arrived in Lebanon on Monday to follow up on the implementation of the reforms it demands, following a staff-level agreement in April on a $3 billion loan programme.
“There’s been slow progress in implementing some of the critical actions that we think are required to move forward with a programme,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said last week.
Amid the painful crisis, Lebanese depositors have been locked out of their foreign currency savings by banking controls that have gradually tightened since 2019.
Banks have in the past been targeted in street protests, often leaving their windows and ATMs smashed.
Now, many frustrated depositors, unable to transfer or withdraw their dollar deposits, have resorted to desperate bank heists to free their money.
Lebanon saw at least seven such hold-ups last week, five of them on a single day.
As a result, Lebanese banks sealed their doors on Monday as part of a three-day closure due to the mounting security concerns.