Billions locked in troubled Lebanese banks behind economic crisis: Syrian President

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed the financial downfall in neighboring Lebanon and not the sweeping US sanctions as the root cause of the ongoing economic crisis in the war-torn country.

According to reports, speaking during a tour of a trade fair broadcast on state media on Wednesday, Assad said billions of dollars of deposits held by his countrymen in Lebanese banks were blocked after a major financial crisis in Lebanon last year.

The Syrian President said anywhere from $20 billion to $42 billion of Syrian deposits could have been lost in the once vibrant banking sector that held over $170 billion in foreign currency deposits.

“This figure for an economy like Syria is terrifying,” he said

“It’s the money they put in Lebanese banks and we paid the price this is the core of the problem that no one talks about,” Assad said.

Lebanon’s bank vaults have long been stashed with Syrian money, with Syrian investors seeking a haven for their cash during years of foreign-sponsored crisis.

With its economy devastated by a financial crisis, Lebanon has seen its pound continue to plummet against the US dollar. The currency has lost more than 80 percent of its value over the last weeks while sources of foreign currency have dried up.

Fearing capital flight and grappling with an acute hard currency crunch, Lebanese banks have since last year imposed tight controls on withdrawals and transfers abroad, drawing outrage from local and foreign depositors unable to access their savings.

President Assad also said that the current economic woes were not caused by the so-called Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, the sweeping US sanctions against Damascus that came into force in June.

“The crisis began before the Caesar Act and years after long-imposed Western sanctions ... It’s the money (in Lebanese banks) that has been lost,” Assad said.

SS