According to the balance sheet of Banque du Liban (BDL), the central bank’s total assets declined by 10.6% annually, to reach $94.3B by the first half of October 2024, amid adopting the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate by BDL since February 1st 2024. The fall was mainly due to the 96.7% year-on-year (YOY) drop in other assets, which reached $235M by the first half of October 2024.
Furthermore, the gold account, representing 26% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 40.8% yearly to reach $24.5B by the first half of October 2024. Moreover, BDL’s foreign assets, consisting of 16.44% of total assets, rose by 10.8% YOY and stood at $15.5B by the first half of October 2024. Additionally, BDL holds in its foreign assets $5B in Lebanese Eurobonds.
A key highlight is that foreign assets decreased by $343.65M in the first two weeks of October 2024 primarily due to the 3-months lump-sum payments for depositors who qualify for circulars 158 and 166 as BDL paid 5/6 of these payments. Note also that BDL amended circulars 166 and 147 to broaden the range of beneficiaries. The new amendment to circular 166 allows all depositors who converted their deposits from Lebanese Pounds to foreign currencies after October 30, 2019, to benefit from the circular’s provisions, regardless of the amount, while the updated circular 147 obligates banks to accept the return of unused checks issued by them to all accounts.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 91.57% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 2.83% and reached $86.4B by the first half of October 2024 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Moreover, public sector deposits, representing 6.3% of BDL’s total liabilities, dropped by 43.6% yearly and reached $5.9B by the first half of October 2024. Lastly, currency in circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 0.6% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 85.7% annually to reach $581.5M by the first half of October 2024 amid adopting the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate by BDL.
BDL Total Assets, Foreign Assets and Currency in Circulation by the First Half of October 2024 ($B):
Source: BDL, BLOMINVEST
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