https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/27/parliament-pushes-capital-controls-law-lebanese-protest
This article covers a Lebanese bill that is working its way through parliament. The bill plans to impose capital controls over banking institutions. In preparation of this bill the Lebanese government has already imposed restrictions on the withdrawal of foreign currency, amount of money that can be withdrawn at once and created a high tax on currency exchange in order to force citizens to use the Lebanese national currency as the primary payment method. These restrictions alongside the proposal of the new bill have sparked protests outside parliament chambers for two weeks now. Many citizens lost over 70% of their savings when the restrictions were imposed and even more fall into poverty as the restrictions over the amount of money they can withdraw force them to have a capped income. These drastic measures come in response to massive inflation of the Lebanese dollar and it losing 90% of its value in the last few years. The Lebanese government’s reasoning for these restrictions, bills and policies is simple. Lebanon currently does not qualify for a bailout plan by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Economists from the International Monetary Fund have laid out requirements for Lebanon to receive a bailout plan, on the list of requirements is a capital restriction policy. IMF officials state that this is to protect their investment and insure that Lebanon will be able to recover without inflation spiraling further. Many citizens take issue with the idea of capital restrictions because they view themselves as unwilling participants in this effort. Protesters state that the government and the banks have “stolen” their money and that the capital restrictions will simply further limit Lebanese citizens’ financial freedoms. Despite the backlash to the proposed capital restrictions, government officials state that this is the only way to bring their country out of the economic depression it finds itself currently in. This steadfast approach to the public outcry will undoubtedly further the divide between the Lebanese people and its government especially as the proposed capital restriction bill is voted on by the parliament.