According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon widened by 0.11% during the first month of 2022 to $4.02 billion, up from $4.01 billion at end of 2021. In details, claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers) rose by 1.97% to $1.64 billion, coupled with a 0.50% increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $585 million and a 1.65% increase in the value of other assets to $78 million, which altogether outweighed the 1.48% drop in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $1.31 billion, the 18.07% contraction in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $48 million and the 0.31% decrease in the value of fixed assets to $349 million, only to name a few. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) rose by 0.77% in January 2022 to around $1.12 billion, accompanied by a 2.25% increase in investment banks’ capital accounts to $1.62 billion, outweighing the 3.31% contraction in the value of other liabilities to $1.12 billion and the 1.27% drop in liabilities to the non-resident financial sector to $147 million.

Abiding by legislative decree number 50 and subsequent BDL circulars, investment banks operating in Lebanon have managed over the last couple of years to increase their lending activity to the private sector while reducing their exposure to the public sector. As a result, the surplus representing the difference between loans to the private sector and claims on the public sector reached $1.64 billion by end of January 2022.