According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets fell by 39.46% compared to last year, to reach $103.58B by mid of August 2023. The fall was mainly due to the 90.56% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, grasping 6.57% of BDL’s total assets and reaching $6.80B by mid of August 2023. Furthermore, the gold account, representing 17.04% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 7.07% yearly to reach $17.64B by mid of August 2023.
BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 13.36% of total assets dropped by 8.58% YOY and stood at $13.84B by mid of August 2023 of which liquid foreign reserve assets totaled $8.64B($8,57B as at 31/07/2023), noting that BDL holds in its foreign assets $5.2B in Lebanese Eurobonds. Interesting to note, BDL is currently working on changing the accounting policy in line with international practices. Indeed, foreign liquid liabilities were estimated by end of July 2023 around $1.3B. Meanwhile, by August 2023, the platform “Sayrafa” has been officially decommissioned after Governor Riad Salameh ended his 30 years tenure by end of July. In parallel, interestingly, other liabilities plunged by 72.77% year over year to stand at $1.11B by mid of August 2023.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 86.06% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 19.54% and reached $89.14B by mid of August 2023 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Lastly, currency in Circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 3.97% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 85.79% annually to reach $4.11B by mid of August 2023 amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total, Foreign assets and Currency in Circulation by mid-July 2023 ($B):
Source: BDL, Blominvest
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