In January 2016, the total number of cleared checks slid by 2.46% year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach 1.01M, coupled with a 1.36% yearly decline in value to $5.77B. The number of checks denominated in Lebanese Pounds edged down by 0.41% y-o-y to 333,676, however, their value grew by 12.39% from $1.49B in January 2015 to $1.71B in January 2016. The number of cleared checks denominated in foreign currency decreased by 3.44% y-o-y to stand at 677,670 in January 2016. Similarly, their value fell from $4.33B in January 2015 to $4.06B in January 2016. Accordingly, the dollarization rate of cleared checks (value of foreign currency checks as a share of total value) declined from 74.40% in January 2015 to 70.39% in January 2016. Looking at the number of returned checks, it dropped from 23,547 in January 2015 to 19,260 in January 2016, nevertheless their value increased by 16.10% to reach $191M in January 2016. Therefore, the value of returned checks constituted 3.31% of total cleared checks in January 2016, compared to a prior 2.83% recorded in January 2015.
Value of Cleared Checks by January (in $M)
SOURCE: ABL