According to Central Bank statistics, the financial sector’s utilized credits fell by 29.08% y-o-y to nearly LBP 69,932.49 billion ($46.39 billion) by end of the first nine months of 2020, down from LBP 98,605.14 billion ($65.41 billion) a year earlier, as borrowers flocked to prepay loans from their deposit accounts in fear of any haircuts on deposits and an imminent potential depreciation of the Lebanese pound. Of total utilized credits, some LBP 1,095.1 billion ($0.73 billion) represent the value of utilized credits benefiting from banks liabilities subject to reserve requirements. The breakdown of utilized credits by type of facility reveals a sizeable concentration in Advances Against Real Estate ($21.78 billion <46.96%>), followed by Overdrafts ($12.95 billion <27.91%>) and Advances Against Personal Guarantees ($7.10 billion <15.31%>) only to name a few. The total number of utilized credit transactions stood at 471,640 as at end of September 2020, implying an average credit balance of around LBP 98.358 million ($148,275) per credit line.

From a sectoral breakdown perspective, Individuals enjoyed the lion’s share ($16.20 billion <35.77%>) of total utilized credits, followed by loans to the Trade & Services sector ($13.94 billion <30.78%>) and loans to the Construction sector ($6.78 billion <14.96%>). As for the distribution of utilized credits by number of borrowers, the number of Individual borrowers topped the list of borrowers (85.98% of total borrowers), followed by beneficiaries from the Trade & Services sector (10.58%) and borrowers in the Industrial sector (2.82%).

Geographically, the Beirut & Suburbs region amassed the highest concentration of utilized credits, detaining a 73.58% share by September 2020, followed by the Mount Lebanon (13.40%) and North (4.87%) regions among others.