According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon widened by 3.45% during the first nine months of the current year to nearly $5.49 billion, up from $5.30 billion at end of 2018. In details, cash and deposits with central banks soared by 17.25% to just over $1.82 billion, eclipsing as such the 1.23% drop in claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers in addition to the resident financial sector) to $2.26 billion, the 6.94% contraction in the securities portfolio to $932 million, and the 31.84% slump in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $56 million, among others. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) fell by 4.11% YTD September to around $1.97 billion, outweighed by a 3.40% increase in investment banks’ capital accounts to $1.73 billion and some 22.41% hike in other liabilities to about $1.48 billion.

Abiding by legislative decree number 50 and subsequent BDL circulars, investment banks operating in Lebanon have managed over the last couple of years to increase their lending activity to the private sector while reducing their exposure to the public sector. As a result, the surplus representing the difference between loans to the private sector and claims on the public sector reached $2.26 billion up until the month of September 2019.