According to the Association of Lebanese Banks (ABL), the value of cleared checks reached $44.11 Billion (B) by August 2018, down by 3.67% compared to the same period last year. Likewise, the total number of cleared checks fell by 3.96% year-on-year to reach 7.89M by August 2018.
The number and value of cleared checks in foreign currencies declined by 7.16% and 5.61% to reach 4.82M and $29.82B respectively by August 2018.
On the other hand, the number and value of cleared checks in Lebanese Pounds increased by 1.54% and 0.65% year-on-year to reach 3M and $14.3B, respectively.
The share of cleared checks denominated in foreign currencies in the total number of cleared checks declined from 63.22% by August 2017 to 61.12% by August 2018.
As for the number of returned checks it recorded an annual increase of 15.52% to reach 177,002 by August 2018. Accordingly, the share of returned checks in the total number of cleared checks rose from 1.87% by August 2017 to 2.24% by August 2018.
Meanwhile, the value of cleared checks reached $5.44B in August 2018, down by 9% compared to August 2017. Similarly, the total number of cleared checks fell by 8% to reach 982,106 in August 2018.
Value of Cleared Checks by Aug (USD in $M)
Source: Association of Banks in Lebanon