Collective Action

BEIRUT: Hundreds of protesters in cities across Lebanon marched in condemnation of the deteriorating living conditions in the country and against the financial policies of the ruling elite.

For the third consecutive day, protesters in Sidon gathered outside the city’s bank branches, demanding small depositors be given access to their savings, the state-run National News Agency reported.

They demanded full access to their money, without the capital controls that often restrict depositors from taking out more than around $100 a week from their accounts.

Sidon residents also attempted to close currency exchange shops in the city in protest against their use of unofficial exchange rates that have in recent weeks devalued the pound by as much as 40 percent on the official rate of L.L.1,507 to the dollar.

Protesters in Tripoli, Tyre, Zouk Mosbeh and central Beirut were united in their condemnation of the dire state of public finances and the government's failure to put forward an economic rescue plan that doesn't hurt the poor.

"I’d prefer 100 times over to die from coronavirus than be unable to put bread on the table for my children," one man in Zouk Mosbeh told local television channel LBCI. "Maybe we’ll get corona down here on the streets, but what have I got to be scared of – I’ve got no money and nothing to loose.”

Another man in Zouk Mosbeh told local television channel Al Jadeed that he is against the imposition of new taxes that Prime Minister Hassan Diab is rumoured to announce as part of the government's rescue package.

"The government hasn't come up with anything new. We've heard reports that the government is considering additional taxes, like adding L.L5,000 to 20 liters of fuel. Economic recovery shouldn't be at the expense of the people ... it should be based on a revival of the productive sectors of the economy and industry."

Marching toward the Central Bank in Hamra one woman denounced the “shady financial engineering” of the political and financial elite and said that the government should default on public debt to save currency reserves for essential imports.

"We have a shortage of dollars that barely allows us to pay for the importation of essential goods. The priority is that we don’t die from starvation,” she told LBCI.

Lebanon is widely expected to announce Saturday its intention to default on its foreign currency debt, which includes a $1.2 billion Eurobond that matures March 9.