Lebanese banks close doors to customers to protest ruling

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s battered commercial banks have closed their doors to customers in protest of a recent court ruling that forced one of the country’s largest banks to pay out two of its depositors their trapped savings in cash. The Association of Banks in Lebanon, which lobbies for the banks, released a statement Tuesday calling the action an “open-ended strike.” It criticized the court ruling, claiming it was detrimental to all depositors, because the banks cannot afford to pay out everyone else’s savings in full. The demise of the banks is part of Lebanon’s economic meltdown and unprecedented financial crisis that erupted in 2019 following years of corruption and mismanagement by the country’s rulers.