According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon narrowed by 3.14% in 2019 to nearly $5.14 billion, down from $5.30 billion at end of 2018. In details, claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers in addition to the resident financial sector) dropped by 5.77% to $2.16 billion, coupled with a 9.17% contraction in the securities portfolio to $910 million eclipsing the 2.50% rise in cash and deposits with central banks to $1.59 billion and some 14.97% rise in tangible & intangible fixed assets to $342 million. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) fell by 7.54% in 2019 to around $1.90 billion, accompanied by a sharp 41.80% drop in liabilities to the public sector to $63 million, outweighing the 3.43% increase in investment banks’ capital accounts to $1.73 billion and some 0.63% hike in other liabilities to about $1.22 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 $2.16 billion by end of 2019.