According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 0.84% ($9.54 million) during the first quarter of 2022 to $1,132.62 million, down from $1,142.16 million at year-end 2021. This can be mainly attributed to the 14.60% ($10.03 million) contraction in the value of securities portfolio to $58.68 million, coupled with the 1.60% ($7.71 million) decrease in claims on customers to $475.31 million, and the 3.04% ($4.92 million) drop in the value of fixed assets to $156.93 million, which altogether outweighed the 8.42% ($6.16 million) increase in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $79.30 million, the 38.41% ($5.01 million) appreciation in other assets to $18.04 million, and the 8.52% ($2.74 million) rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $34.95 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 41.97% and 26.58% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, financial institutions’ capital accounts fell by 5.84% ($26.12 million) in the first quarter of 2022 to $421.32 million, with liabilities to the resident financial sector concurrently dropping by 13.02% ($15.29 million) to $102.10 million, altogether outweighing the 13.42% ($29.31 million) appreciation in other liabilities to $247.69 million and the 1.40% ($2.90 million) increase in customer deposits to $209.65 million, among others.