According to Central Bank statistics, the financial sector’s utilized credits fell by 21.54% y-o-y to nearly LBP 61,922.08 billion ($41.08 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, down from LBP 78,925.10 billion ($52.35 billion) a year earlier, as borrowers flocked to prepay loans from their deposit accounts in fear of any haircuts on deposits not to mention the sizeable depreciation of the Lebanese pound. Of total utilized credits, some LBP 844.7 billion ($0.56 billion) represent the value of utilized credits benefiting from banks liabilities subject to reserve requirements. The breakdown of utilized credits by type of facility reveals a sizeable concentration in Advances Against Real Estate ($19.34 billion <47.08%>), followed by Overdrafts ($12.09 billion <29.43%>) and Advances Against Personal Guarantees ($5.94 billion <27.38%>) only to name a few. The total number of utilized credit transactions stood at 410,539 as at end of March 2021, implying an average credit balance of around LBP 150.831 million ($100,054) per credit line.

From a sectoral breakdown perspective, Individuals enjoyed the lion’s share ($14.36 billion <34.97%>) of total utilized credits, followed by loans to the Trade & Services sector ($13.01 billion <31.67%>) and loans to the Construction sector ($6.07 billion <14.78%>). As for the distribution of utilized credits by number of borrowers, the number of Individual borrowers topped the list of borrowers (84.87% of total borrowers), followed by beneficiaries from the Trade & Services sector (11.05%) and borrowers in the Industrial sector (3.01%).

Geographically, the Beirut & Suburbs region amassed the highest concentration of utilized credits, detaining a 74.37% share by March 2021, followed by the Mount Lebanon (13.15%) and North (4.77%) regions.