According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 4.57% ($53.60 million) during the first seven months of 2021 to $1,118.85 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 9.89% ($48.73 million) contraction in claims on customers to $444.25 million, coupled with some 10.06% ($6.46 million) decrease in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $57.71 million and a 22.02% ($2.93 million) drop in the value of other assets to $10.38 million, altogether outweighing the 7.30% ($5.38 million) increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $79.01 million, the 0.84% ($2.72 million) increase in claims on the resident financial sector to $326.59 million and the 4.12% ($0.19 million) rise in claims on the public sector to $4.74 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 39.71% and 29.19% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 39.92% ($62.76 million) YTD July 2021 to $94.45 million, with capital accounts falling by 2.88% ($13.37 million) to $450.37 million, and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector decreasing by 9.12% ($7.13 million) to $71.03 million, altogether outweighing the 15.37% ($24.62 million) rise in customer deposits to $184.81 million and the 2.98% ($6.46 million) increase in other liabilities to $223.40 million.