Fresh USD Checks Reached 75,155 Checks Valued at $993.14M by December 2025
According to the data published by the Association of Lebanese Banks’ (ABL), the total number of cleared checks in the Lebanese financial system decreased remarkably by 41.69% year-over-year (YoY) to 108,397 checks by December 2025. Similarly, the cumulative value of cleared checks in local currency decreased by -20.01% YoY to LBP 62.80B by December 2025. Likewise, the cumulative value of cleared checks in foreign currency dropped by 45.65% year-over-year (YoY) to reach $706M by December 2025.
Moreover, the volumes of cleared checks in Lebanese Pounds and foreign currencies witnessed substantial yearly drop of 39.41% and 66.86% respectively to settle at 103,277 and 5,120 checks, by December 2025. Accordingly, the dollarization rate of checks in terms of volume fell from 8.31% in December 2024 to 4.72% in December 2025.
Notably, the number of returned checks was dropped substantially by 46.51% YoY to stand at 582 checks by December 2025. Moreover, the value of returned checks in local currency decreased by 6.44% YOY to record LBP 668B, however, the value of returned checks in foreign currency increased significantly by 20.63% YOY to record $96.47M in December 2025.
Banque du Liban (BDL) recently issued Circular 165, which permits depositors to make payments by check starting June 1st, 2023, as long as their accounts are in either fresh US dollars or Lebanese lira. To support this initiative, BDL has introduced a new clearing system, distinct from the one dedicated to pre-crisis deposits. This circular serves a dual purpose: it encourages customers to open new accounts in both Lebanese pounds and US dollars, while also aiming to decrease the country’s dependence on cash and stimulate economic recovery. As such, in December 2025, the cumulative number of checks issued from fresh accounts reached 101,894, of which 75,155 checks are in USD currency amounting $993.14M and 26,739 checks are in LBP currency amounting LBP 45,079B. On a monthly basis, the number of fresh cleared checks in both currencies in December 2025 was 13,934 checks.
Cleared Checks by December 2025 (in 000s)
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