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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Lebanon's 'Zombie Banks' Downsize to Weather Crisis

Graffiti dubbed on the exterior of a Bank of Beirut branch; Lebanese lenders are widely blamed by citizens for the country's devastating financial crisis. PATRICK BAZ AFP/File

Once the economy's crown jewel, Lebanon's banks are shutting branches and laying off employees in droves, resizing to the bleak reality of a crisis they are widely blamed for.

Before the onset in 2019 of a financial collapse deemed one of the world's worst since the 1850s by the World Bank, the small Mediterranean country had an oversized but prosperous banking sector.

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