According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets fell by 38.51% compared to last year, to reach $104.09B by end of August 2023. The fall was mainly due to the 90.35% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, grasping 6.60% of BDL’s total assets and reaching $6.86B by end of August 2023. Furthermore, the gold account, representing 17.23% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 12.10% yearly to reach $17.93B by end of August 2023.
BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 13.55% of total assets dropped by 5.88% YOY and stood at $13.87B by end 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. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s vice governors presented a proposal of opting Bloomberg platform as an alternative monetary platform to replace Sayrafa in order to shift from the fixed exchange rate regime to a managed float exchange rate regime probably by the end of this September. In parallel, interestingly, other liabilities plunged by 74.60% year over year to stand at $1.08B by end of August 2023.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 85.53% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 18.19% and reached $89.02B by end 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 3.95% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 85.73% annually to reach $4.10B by end of August 2023 amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total, Foreign assets and Currency in Circulation by end of August 2023 ($B):
Source: BDL, Blominvest
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