According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets declined by 9.04% annually, to reach $94.68B by the end of August 2024, amid adopting the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate by BDL since February 1st 2024. The fall was mainly due to the 97.24% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, which reached $189.25M by the end of August 2024. Interesting to mention that based on Central Council decision number 23/36/45 dated 20/12/2023, all previous Central Council decisions related to Seigniorage were suspended and all deferred interest costs emanating from open-market operations were presented under a new line item. As a result, all deferred interest costs included in Other Assets and Assets from Exchange Operations amounting to LBP 118.97 Trillion as of 31/12/2023 were transferred to “Deferred Open-Market Operations”.
Furthermore, the gold account, representing 24.58% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 29.77% yearly to reach $23.27B by the end of August 2024. Moreover, BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 16.59% of total assets, rose by 13.17% YOY and stood at $15.71B by the end of August 2024. Additionally, BDL holds in its foreign assets $5B in Lebanese Eurobonds; note also that foreign assets increased by $131.33M in the last two weeks of August 2024.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 91.81% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 2.36% and reached $86.93B by the end of August 2024 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Moreover, public sector deposits, representing 6.05% of BDL’s total liabilities, dropped by 36.23% yearly and reached $5.72B by the end of August 2024. Lastly, currency in circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 0.67% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 84.45% annually to reach $639M by the end of August 2024 amid adopting the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total Assets, Foreign Assets and Currency in Circulation by End of August 2024 ($B):
Source: BDL, Blominvest
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