During the first five months of the year, the value of cleared checks decreased by 2.30%, illustrating lower levels of consumption and spending. In fact, the number of checks cleared by Banque du Liban amounted to 5.1M worth $28.18B by May 2016, compared to a slightly lower total of 5.09M checks valued at $28.84B registered a year earlier.
The total value of checks in foreign currencies triggered the fall in the total value of cleared checks, as it declined 5.22% y-o-y to $20B compared to $21.11B by May 2015. In contrast, the value of checks denominated in Lebanese Pounds inched up by a yearly 5.52% to reach $8.16B. In turn, the dollarization rate of checks retreated from 73.18% by May 2015 to 70.99% this year. As for returned checks, they constituted 2.33% of the total value of checks.
In the month of May alone, the value of cleared checks decreased by 6.3% y-o-y to $5.61B. The value of checks denominated in foreign currencies (representing 71.62% of the total) went down by an annual 9.16% to $4.01B. On the other hand, the value of checks in LBP increased by 2.29% y-o-y to $1.6B.
Value of Cleared Checks by May ($M)
Source: ABL