Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) recorded a surplus of $136.0M in April, as rightly expected by BLOM INVEST bank in early May, when money supply grew by more than 0.91% in the week ending April 30. The month of March had witnessed a BoP deficit of $417.4M. NFAs of BDL declined by $878.4M while that of commercial banks went up by $1.01B, from the prior month.
Despite the positive BoP of April, the improving tourism activity, and the contracting trade deficit, Lebanon’s BoP remained in the red for the 1sr four months of 2015, recording a deficit of $714.2M in, compared to a surplus of $256.0M, in the same period last year. The reason could be a slowdown in expatriates’ transfers due to domestic political tensions and to current economic conditions in the GCC countries following the decline in oil prices. A drop in portfolio investments and FDI contributed to the negative BoP.
In details, Net Foreign Assets (NFA) of the Central Bank (BDL) grew by $469.5M until April, while that of the commercial banks fell by $1.18B.
Balance of Payments Up to April (In $ M)
Source: Banque du Liban