Economist Jassem Ajaka stated in an interview with "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the value of money present in Lebanese homes and businesses is estimated to be around 10 billion dollars, some of which is in dollars and the rest in Lebanese pounds.
Ajaka added that for the first time in Lebanon's history, the size of the money supply has reached this level. He confirmed that the beginning of the economic crisis was the main reason that drove citizens to buy gold or convert their deposits into gold, which led to an increase in gold storage in homes. He noted that this trend stopped shortly after the economic crisis began, so the increase in gold in homes was limited to the initial months of the crisis only.
