BDL compiled August 2024 data using the two below sources as per the IMF recommendation to align with the International Norms:
According to BDL’s latest monetary report, the BOP recorded a surplus of $5,106.8M by August 2024, far higher than the surplus over the same period last year of $1,071.1M.
Based on the BDL Central Council’s Decision Number 37/20/24 dated 19/09/2024, BDL’s foreign assets starting January 2024 include the Monetary Gold, the Non-Resident Foreign Securities held by BDL, and the Foreign Currencies & Deposits with Correspondent Banks & International Organization; while excluding the Lebanese Government’s Sovereign Bonds and the BDL loans in FX to Resident Banks and Financial Institutions. The significant increase in the change of BDL NFA is mainly explained by the increase in the value of the Monetary Gold.
Accordingly, Net Foreign Assets (NFAs) of BDL rose by $ 5,325.6M while the NFAs of commercial banks decreased by $218.9M by August 2024.
In the month of August 2024, the NFA increased by $1,216.7M and the NFA of commercial banks rose by $54.4M, generating a surplus of $1,271.1M.
For a meaningful analysis, we examine the NFAs of commercial banks for the month of August 2024. On the liabilities side, “Non-resident financial sector liabilities” decreased by $42.86M to reach $2.64B; similarly “Non-resident customers’ deposits” rose by 125.43M to reach $21.16B and “Non-resident debt securities” remained at $150M by August 2024. Meanwhile, on the asset side, “claims on non-resident financial sector” decreased by $165.7M to reach $4.29B for the same period, “other foreign assets” increased by $45.34M to stand at $2.56B, while “Non-resident securities portfolio” increased by $89.5M recording $755M, and “claims on non-resident customers” increased by $1.2M to reach $938.43M.
Balance of Payments (BoP) by August 2024 (in $M)
Source: BDL, BLOMINVEST
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