Source: News from the sky
I wrote Ikram Saab in Sky News Arabia website: Since the beginning of the crisis that hit the banking sector in Lebanon, and caused a lack of liquidity in banks and no guarantee for depositors in September 2019, the Lebanese have been rushing to save their deposits from melting down, and then they refrained from depositing their money in local banks and most of them resorted to keeping it in their homes.
Homes in Lebanon have witnessed an out-of-bank cash balance after the economic crisis led to a collapse in the value of the local currency, accompanied by a sharp rise in inflation and a large demand for the dollar, and maintaining green currency in homes have become a common denominator for the Lebanese.
Lebanese experts estimate the amount of money stored in homes at around $10 billion, to resist any measures that might be issued by the Central Bank that would erode the value of savings.
Treasury trading
With the onset of the banking crisis, the trade in safes began to flourish, according to traders and buyers.
Ibrahim Abs, owner of a shop that sells safes in Beirut, told Sky News Arabia: “Our sales have increased by 50% compared to previous periods. Before the crisis, banks were our most important customers, but today they are their depositors to buy.”
Samer, a worker who works in an electrical appliance store in the Lebanese capital, added: “We get dozens of customers asking about the type of iron safes we have, including those who make their decisions quickly and buy, and those who go come back the next day and buy.”
And he speaks to “Sky News Arabia”, saying: “Right now we are displaying the safes in the facades of our stores, so that they are the first goods customers see when they enter, to facilitate the sale.”
Samer continues: “The prices of the safes usually range between 70 and 250 dollars, and are insured against fire and theft, and their weight varies between 7 and 400 kilograms. They are made of steel and lined with insulating materials against fire” .
A woman who wandered around the markets looking for iron safes says that this method “is the only solution for keeping money. It can be secretly installed in the closet or in any other place the owner chooses, to keep his money like a small depositor.”
And he added to “Sky News Arabia”: “After the banks closed their doors in our faces and withheld our money deposited with them under the pretext of lack of cash liquidity, keeping our money at home has become the our main concern.”
In recent months, Lebanese banks have seen episodes of gun threats from depositors who want to withdraw their dollar balances, while banks refuse to disburse them due to lack of liquidity.
