Lebanon’s banks close their doors on Monday 16 March, in order to collectively work to organize activities for the period between 17 to 29 March, according to a statement from the Association of Banks published Sunday evening.
The decision was taken in the wake of the “state of health emergency” decreed by the Council of Ministers on Sunday, 15 March, which came after several contradictory reports were relayed in that evening.
Some reports indicated that the banks were going to open their branches but with a limited staff. Others claimed that the banks would close their branches but keep their main ones open in major cities in order to respond to customer requests, which necessarily involved an approach at the counter.
However, the President of the Association of Banks, Salim Sfeir, denied all these contradictory reports circulating in the media and made the formal announcement accordingly.
