Lebanese lawmaker enters financial institution department to demand frozen financial savings By Reuters

By Maya Gebeily

(Reuters) -A Lebanese member of parliament entered a department of Byblos Financial institution north of Beirut on Wednesday with a bunch of associates to demand entry to her frozen financial savings to pay for surgical procedure.

Cynthia Zarazir, a first-time parliamentarian who was elected in Might to symbolize Beirut, entered the financial institution unarmed and demanded $8,500 in money, she instructed Reuters.

“We have spent a couple of days going backwards and forwards to the financial institution and bringing my (medical) stories they usually do not reply us. I can not delay this any extra. I got here to take my cash,” Zarazir mentioned by phone from the financial institution.

“At the moment, I got here as a I do not care what my colleagues within the parliament will assume. I see proper from fallacious,” she mentioned.

Instances of financial institution hold-ups and protests have snowballed throughout Lebanon lately as depositors have grown exasperated over casual capital controls that banks have imposed since an financial downturn started in 2019.

Depositors can solely withdraw restricted quantities in U.S. {dollars} or the Lebanese pound, which has misplaced greater than 95% of its worth because the disaster started.

The financial institution department shut down after Zarazir entered and a spokesperson for Byblos Financial institution at its headquarters was not instantly out there for remark.

Zarazir mentioned she had rejected a suggestion from the financial institution to withdraw an infinite quantity in Lebanese kilos at a fee of 8,000 kilos to the greenback – which might symbolize a roughly 80% haircut on the worth of her funds.

“She has not damaged the regulation in any approach. She went into her financial institution to ask for her cash. She did not even shut the financial institution down – the administration did that,” mentioned Fouad Debs, her lawyer and a founding father of the Depositors’ Union advocacy group.

He accompanied Zarazir and spoke to Reuters from the financial institution, saying the sit-in would proceed till the lawmaker had entry to her funds.

Tuesday noticed 4 hold-ups throughout Lebanon, two of them involving armed males demanding their deposits.

One other incident happened on Monday.

Individually, an unidentified assailant fired pictures at a Beirut Financial institution department within the northern city of Byblos on Wednesday, a safety supply mentioned.

There have been no accidents and the assailant fled, the supply mentioned.

Lebanon’s banking affiliation has expressed outrage over the hold-ups. An identical surge final month prompted banks to shut for a few week.