Public Actions

Banque du Liban suspends Circular 151 that allows depositors to withdraw from their local dollar accounts at a rate of LL3,900

Date: 
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Banque du Liban announced on Wednesday that customers would have to withdraw from their accounts at the official rate of about LL1,500 to $1 — an effective haircut of 88 percent on their initial deposits, as the lira is currently trading at about LL13,000 to the greenback on the parallel exchange market. Queues formed outside banks as depositors rushed to withdraw their money. At the heart of BDL’s announcement is a provisional decision on Monday by the State Shura Council, Lebanon’s highest administrative court, that said deposits in dollar accounts should be reimbursed to their account holders in dollars. Until a final ruling is made, the council suspended BDL Circular 151, which allowed commercial banks to pay out dollar deposits at the lollar exchange rate, calling it unlawful.

A few dozen people gathered outside the Beirut Justice Palace to protest the removal of the LL3,900 rate for withdrawing foreign currency and call for banks to pay out their deposits in dollars. “Our demands are simple: let us withdraw our well-deserved dollars in their original currency without having to exchange them for lira,” one protester, who gave his name as Sami, told L’Orient Today. “Depositors were not happy with the LL3,900 exchange rate to begin with, so never mind decreasing the rate to LL1,515.” Graphic designer Nadim Jaber was also protesting in front of the Justice Palace earlier in the day. Speaking with L’Orient Today after learning of Salameh’s announcement, he said he was “not going to applaud BDL for … Circular 151.” “The decision they took to allow depositors to withdraw their dollars in lira without their consent is altogether frowned upon,” he continued. “If they are truly working for the public good they’d allow us to withdraw our dollars.”

Acting Bodies: 
Banque du Liban (BDL)
Type: 
Resolutions
Categories: 
Economic measures (State budget, rent law, wages...)
Impact: 
National
Status: 
Abolished
Civil Society Response: 
Contested