According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 0.72% ($8.25 million) during the first two months of 2022 to $1,133.91 million, down from $1,142.16 million at year-end 2021. This can be mainly attributed to the 3.79% ($11.43 million) contraction in claims on the resident financial sector to $290.24 million, coupled with the 11.79% ($8.10 million) decrease in the value of the securities portfolio to $60.61 million, and the 2.60% ($4.20 million) drop in the value of fixed assets to $157.65 million, which altogether outweighed the 1.65% ($7.98 million) increase in claims on customers to $491.01 million, the 13.79% ($4.44 million) appreciation in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $36.65 million, and the 4.55% ($3.33 million) rise in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $76.48 million, only to name a few. 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 43.30% and 25.60% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, liabilities to the resident financial sector fell by 19.97% ($23.45 million) in the first two months of 2022 to $93.94 million, with capital accounts concurrently dropping by 5.16% ($23.11 million) to $424.33 million and customer deposits receding by 3.71% ($7.68 million) to $199.07 million, altogether outweighing the 12.13% ($26.50 million) appreciation in other liabilities to $244.88 million, and the four-folds ($19.64 million) increase in public sector deposits to $25.34 million, among others.