Lebanese bank branches will reopen their doors and offer specific services starting Monday, after being closed due to theft by savers with blocked dollar deposits, the Association of Lebanese Banks announced on Sunday.
The organization assured that the banks will reopen “for the operations of commercial, educational, health and other institutions and through ATMs”, which implies that they will continue without serving individuals in the branches.
Lebanon’s banks have been closed since September 17, following several robberies of banking facilities by depositors, who were desperately seeking to recover their money frozen by banks due to the economic crisis, which has already caused the local currency to collapse. devalued by 90%.
The decision to reopen, although with limitations “to be determined by each bank,” according to the statement from the Banking Association, was attributed by the association to the “need to guarantee the continuity of services to customers” and to “guarantee salaries of the public sector”. and private”.
In the note, the association lamented “the absence of adequate protection by the country.”
The first robbery occurred on August 11, when an armed man robbed a bank branch, where he remained for several hours before turning himself in to the police, after receiving $30,000 to pay for the treatment of his sick father.
Four days later, this depositor was released, without charge, after the bank withdrew the complaint.
Source: Observadora
