Dissatisfaction among depositors with the procedures for depositing and withdrawing funds
Anyone traveling on the roads of Beirut and the various Lebanese regions realizes the extent of the continuous suffering that the Lebanese are subjected to in front of the banks that withhold their money. The scene of queues every morning in front of banks sums up this reality, after performing any operation in the bank requires a prior appointment that may be delayed for weeks, especially if it is linked to what has become known in Lebanon as a “bank account” that allows, according to one of the Central Bank’s circulars, By buying dollars according to an exchange rate lower than its price on the black market, and then exchanging it for the higher rate from this market, which leads to earning a few thousand pounds according to the value of the dollars that are exchanged.
And a number of depositors express their dissatisfaction with the procedures related to withdrawing their money and depositing it through the automatic withdrawal machines placed in front of the banks, where they are most often broken or closed, which requires the depositor to wait hours to complete the process as a result of the daily congestion witnessed by the banks, each of which takes special measures that include setting doors sealed iron that is only opened to insert each individual depositor.
Economist Patrick Mardini explains to Asharq Al-Awsat the repercussions of these measures, saying, “The Central Bank’s policy is floundering and full of contradictions, as it decides to pump large amounts of the Lebanese pound into the market, which leads to inflation, that is, the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar and the collapse of the pound, to return and decide to withdraw the pound.” Through circulars such as banking, so that in return he loses the remaining money of the depositors. From here, this infernal episode reflects negatively on the owners of deposits attached to banks, and on the other hand, it turned all the Lebanese people into speculators who spend their days in front of the bank instead of focusing on productive work.
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