According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 5.20% ($60.98 million) during the first quarter of 2021 to $1,111.47 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 5.77% ($28.43 million) contraction in claims on customers to $464.55 million, coupled with some 8.19% ($26.53 million) decrease in claims on the resident financial sector to $297.35 million and a 10.87% ($1.45 million) drop in the value of other assets to $11.87 million, altogether outweighing the 2.61% ($1.92 million) increase in the value of securities portfolio to $75.56 million and the 9.87% ($0.45 million) rise in claims on the public sector to $5.00 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 41.80% and 26.75% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 35.36% ($55.59 million) YTD March 2021 to $101.62 million, with capital accounts falling by 5.12% ($23.74 million) to $440.00 million, and customer deposits decreasing by 4.36% ($6.98 million) to $153.20 million, altogether outweighing the 9.65% ($20.92 million) rise in other liabilities to $237.86 million and the 8.73% ($7.94 million) increase in the value of debt securities issued to $98.90 million.