According to Lebanon’s consolidated commercial banks’ balance sheet, total assets decreased annually by 7.48% to stand at $174.25B by January 2022.
In more details, resident customers’ deposits which grasp 59.18% of total liabilities decreased by 6.29% to $103.11B in January 2022, with deposits in LBP down ticked by 2.62% to $24.01 B. Moreover, the deposits in foreign currencies declined by 7.35% to stand at $79.10B.
As for Non-resident customers’ deposits grasping 13.94% of total liabilities, they recorded a drop of 11.23% and stood at $24.28B over the same period. In details, the deposits in LBP retreated by 11.07% to reach $1.97B while deposits in foreign currencies declined by 11.24% and totaled $22.30B in January 2022. More importantly, the dollarization ratio for private sector deposits decreased from 80.20% in January 2021 to 79.25% in January 2022. In addition, Non-resident financial sector Liabilities held 2.79% of total Liabilities and dwindled by 24.80% to reach $4.85B YOY.
On the assets side, currency and deposits with Central Bank, constituting 65.01% of total assets, recorded a yearly uptick of 1.22% to settle at $113.28B in January 2022. Deposits with the central bank (BDL), grasping 97.49% of total reserves, witnessed a slight annual decrease of 0.23% to reach $110.44B.
Meanwhile, Claims on resident customers, constituting 13.80% of total assets, shrank by 23.45%, to stand at $24.04B in January 2022. Moreover, Resident Securities portfolio (9.78% of total assets) dropped by 24.31% in January to stand at $17.04B. Specifically, the Eurobond holding recorded a decline of 53.32% and totaled $4.41B for the same period, as banks are selling their Eurobonds to shore up their foreign currency liquidity.
Commercial Banks Assets and Residents Customer Deposits by January ($B)
Source: BDL, BLOMINVEST