According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 6.58% ($77.10 million) during the first four months of 2021 to $1,095.35 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 8.74% ($43.10 million) contraction in claims on customers to $449.88 million, coupled with some 7.50% ($24.28 million) decrease in claims on the resident financial sector to $299.60 million and a 10.76% ($6.90 million) drop in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $57.26 million, altogether outweighing the 5.76% ($4.24 million) increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $77.88 million, the 7.66% ($1.02 million) hike in the value of other assets to $14.34 million and the 8.84% ($0.40 million) rise in claims on the public sector to $4.95 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 41.07% and 27.35% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 43.49% ($68.37 million) YTD April 2021 to $88.84 million, with capital accounts falling by 5.14% ($23.81 million) to $439.93 million, and customer deposits decreasing by 4.68% ($7.50 million) to $152.68 million, altogether outweighing the 8.41% ($18.24 million) rise in other liabilities to $235.18 million and the 8.72% ($7.93 million) increase in the value of issued debt securities to $98.89 million.