According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 4.37% ($51.27 million) during the first eleven months of 2021 to $1,121.17 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 11.83% ($38.33 million) contraction in claims on the resident financial sector to $285.55 million, coupled with the 3.21% ($15.83 million) decrease in claims on customers to $477.14 million, and the 6.05% ($10.54 million) decrease in the value of fixed assets to $163.70 million among others, which altogether outweighed the 24.83% ($6.38 million) rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $32.06 million, the 7.41% ($4.76 million) increase in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $68.92 million, and the 88.45% ($4.03 million) increase in claims on the public sector to $8.58 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 42.56% and 25.47% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector plunged by 28.20% ($44.34 million) YTD November 2021 to $112.87 million, with capital accounts dropping by 3.31% ($15.35 million) to $448.39 million, liabilities to the non-resident financial sector falling by 14.11% ($11.03 million) to $67.13 million, and issued debt securities decreasing by 8.87% ($8.07 million) to $82.90 million, altogether outweighing the 16.17% ($25.90 million) rise in customer deposits to $186.08 million and the 0.66% ($1.44 million) increase in other liabilities to $218.38 million.