According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets fell by 43.24% compared to last year, to reach $107.64B by mid of December 2023, amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL since February 2023. The fall was mainly due to the 91.82% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, grasping 7.10% of BDL’s total assets and reaching $7.64B mid of December 2023. Furthermore, the gold account, representing 17.50% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 14.98% yearly to reach $18.83B by mid of December 2023.
Furthermore, BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 13.45% of total assets dropped by 5.06% YOY and stood at $14.47B by mid of December 2023, noting that BDL holds in its foreign assets $5B in Lebanese Eurobonds. Interesting to note that foreign assets increased by $199.78M in the first two weeks of December 2023 and increased by $690.70M since end of July 2023.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 82.65% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 16% and reached $88.96B by mid of December 2023 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Lastly, currency in Circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 3.65% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 92.08% annually to reach $3.92B by mid of December 2023 amid adopting the 15,000 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total, Foreign assets and Currency in Circulation by Mid of December 2023 ($B):
Source: BDL, Blominvest
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