According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets fell by 43.05% compared to last year, to reach $106.84B by end of November 2023, amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL since February 2023. The fall was mainly due to the 91.78% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, grasping 7.03% of BDL’s total assets and reaching $7.51B by end of November 2023. Furthermore, the gold account, representing 17.6% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 15.83% yearly to reach $18.8B by end of November 2023.
Furthermore, BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 13.37% of total assets dropped by 5.98% YOY and stood at $14.28B by end of November 2023, noting that BDL holds in its foreign assets $5B in Lebanese Eurobonds. Noting that foreign assets increased by $66M in the last two weeks of November 2023 and increased by $490M since end of July 2023.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 83.31% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 15.91% and reached $89B by end of November 2023 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Lastly, currency in Circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 3.54% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 92.12% annually to reach $3.78B by end of November 2023 amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total, Foreign assets and Currency in Circulation by end of November 2023 ($B):
Source: BDL, Blominvest
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