According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 3.81% ($44.64 million) during the first half of 2021 to $1,127.81 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 8.44% ($27.34 million) contraction in claims on the resident financial sector to $296.54 million, coupled with some 3.11% ($15.34 million) decrease in claims on customers to $477.64 million, a 3.24% ($2.08 million) drop in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $62.09 million and an 8.15% ($1.09 million) plunge in the value of other assets to $12.23 million, altogether outweighing the 3.20% ($2.36 million) increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $75.99 million, the 2.53% ($0.65 million) increase in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $26.33 million and the 6.22% ($0.28 million) rise in claims on the public sector to $4.83 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 42.35% and 26.29% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 42.04% ($66.09 million) YTD June 2021 to $91.12 million, with capital accounts falling by 3.13% ($14.50 million) to $449.24 million, and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector decreasing by 6.87% ($5.37 million) to $72.79 million, altogether outweighing the 19.85% ($31.80 million) rise in customer deposits to $191.98 million and the 4.55% ($9.87 million) increase in other liabilities to $226.81 million.