Global Courant
Protesters demand access to their savings and demand that the bank’s governor be held accountable for the economic crisis.
Demonstrators in Lebanon have gathered in front of the central bank to demand the lifting of capital controls that prevent them from withdrawing their savings and to hold the bank’s governor accountable for the deepening economic crisis.
Angry Lebanese gathering in the capital Beirut on Friday said that while politicians could move large sums of money abroad, they had to pay for the crisis.
“People are tired and frustrated. They have been taking to the streets for four years now,” Zeina Khodr of Al Jazeera said from Beirut.
“Many don’t believe they will ever see their money again,” Khodr said, adding that the economic woes had prompted many people to leave Lebanon.
Lebanon’s extraordinary economic collapse became apparent in October 2019 when the central bank suddenly imposed capital controls, capped withdrawals and stopped most Lebanese from transferring money abroad.
In February, the central bank confirmed a new official exchange rate of £15,000 to the US dollar, breaking the rate of just over £1,500 that the currency was tied to for decades before its collapse.
Depositors complain that withdrawing savings at the official rate is hugely disadvantageous as the Lebanese pound hovers around a record $100,000 on the over-the-counter market, which trades daily.
“I need my money to buy medicine, I am a diabetic,” retired Micheal Iliovits told Al Jazeera. Drug subsidies were largely lifted from 2021, making essential medicines unaffordable for many.
Salam Zeiban, who described himself as unemployed, said the politicians wanted people to pay for their “theft”. “This is unethical,” he said, adding that while people have been withdrawing their money for years at an “unfair” exchange rate, in the early days of the crisis, politicians were able to smuggle their money out of the country.
Central bank governor Riad Salameh denied reports that the country is bankrupt due to an estimated $70 billion in losses to the financial system.
Salameh has received international warrants for his arrest, but Lebanon has so far refused to extradite him. He is not allowed to leave the country, but remains in his position at the bank.
In addition to being in a crippling economic crisis for more than three years, Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet for more than a year and has been without a president for nearly eight months.
Lawmakers in parliament, where no group has a clear majority, have failed to elect a new president 12 times amid bitter divisions between Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its opponents.
