According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 3.59% ($42.09 million) during the first eight months of 2021 to $1,130.35 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 7.03% ($22.77 million) contraction in claims on the resident financial sector to $301.11 million, coupled with the 4.39% ($21.63 million) decrease in claims on customers to $471.35 million, the 2.98% ($1.92 million) drop in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $62.25 million and a 14.26% ($1.90 million) decrease in the value of other assets to $11.42 million, altogether outweighing the 6.56% ($4.83 million) increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $78.47 million, the 87.04% ($3.96 million) increase in claims on the public sector to $8.51 million and the 10.49% ($2.69 million) rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $28.38 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 41.70% and 26.64% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 33.80% ($53.14 million) YTD August 2021 to $104.07 million, with debt securities issued falling by 8.86% ($8.06 million) to $82.90 million, and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector decreasing by 9.71% ($7.59 million) to $70.57 million, altogether outweighing the 15.54% ($24.89 million) rise in customer deposits to $185.08 million and the 1.25% ($5.78 million) increase in capital accounts to $469.52 million.