According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 10.18% ($156.75 million) during the year 2019 to $1,382.59 million, down from $1,539.34 million at year-end 2018. This can be mainly attributed to the 9.86% ($73.45 million) contraction in claims on customers to $671.40 million, coupled with some 45.64% ($43.02 million) decrease in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $51.25 million, a 7.57% ($25.11 million) drop in claims on the resident financial sector to $306.68 million and a 19.29% ($21.48 million) decline in the value of the securities portfolio to $89.86 million. It is worth noting that claims on customers and on the resident financial sector are the two largest asset categories on financial institutions’ balance sheet, accounting for 48.56% and 22.18% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 40.01% ($149.08 million) in 2019 to $223.52 million, with the value of debt securities issued sinking by 24.96% ($37.21 million) to $111.87 million and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector slipping by 12.96% ($18.57 million) to $124.69 million, altogether outweighing the 9.17% ($20.50 million) increase in other liabilities to $244.05 million, the 3.85% ($18.05 million) expansion in financial institutions’ combined capital accounts to $486.39 million, and the 5.66% ($10.08 million) rise in customer deposits to $188.12 million.