Lebanese Commercial Banks’ Total Assets Down Year on Year by 6.01% to $165.05B by November 2022

According to Lebanon’s consolidated commercial banks’ balance sheet, total assets decreased annually by 6.01% to stand at $165.05B by November 2022.

On the assets side, currency and deposits with Central Bank represented a high figure of 65.9% of total assets; they fell YOY by 1.19% to settle at $108.77B in November 2022. Deposits with the central bank (BDL) represented 97.32% of total reserves, and slightly decreased by 1.25% YOY, to reach $105.86B in November 2022. Meanwhile, Vault cash in Lebanese pound slightly increased by 1.01% on a yearly basis to stand at $2.91B by the same period. The increase could be attributed to the volumes of cash that banks are receiving from Sayrafa transactions.

Claims on resident customers, constituting 11.46% of total assets, shrank significantly by 24.11%, to stand at $18.9B in November 2022. Moreover, Resident Securities portfolio (8.81% of total assets) dropped by 28.06% in November 2022 to stand at $14.54B. More specifically, the Eurobond holding recorded a decline of 38.94% since November 2021, to reach $3.44B in November 2022.

On the liabilities side, resident customers’ deposits were the main account, representing 60.03% of total liabilities; they decreased by 3.99% since November 2021 to reach $99.07B in November 2022. In more details, deposits in foreign currencies (74.58% of resident customers’ deposits) decreased by 7.62% YOY to reach $73.89B by November 2022, while deposits in LBP (25.42% of resident customers’ deposits) increased by 8.5% YOY to stand at $25.19B by November 2022. Customers seem to deposit more Lebanese pound into their accounts while others are conducting limited withdrawals in foreign currencies; in addition, most of transactions today are only paid in fresh dollars.

As for Non-resident customers’ deposits, grasping 14.19% of total liabilities, they recorded a drop of 5.54% and stood at $23.42B in November 2022. In details, the deposits in LBP retracted by 3.3% to reach $1.99B while deposits in foreign currencies declined by 5.74% to reach $21.42B over the same period. More importantly, the dollarization ratio for private sector deposits decreased from 79.96% in November 2021 to 77.41% in November 2022. In addition, Non-resident financial sector Liabilities held 2.61% of total Liabilities and decreased by 12.69% YOY to reach $4.31B in November 2022.

Commercial Banks Assets and Residents Customer Deposits by November 2022 ($B)

Lebanese Commercial Banks’ Total Assets Down Year on Year by 6.01% to $165.05B by November 2022

Source: BDL, BLOMINVEST

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