According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 1.40% ($16.05 million) during the first four months of 2022 to $1,126.11 million, down from $1,142.16 million at year-end 2021. This can be mainly attributed to the 6.09% ($18.37 million) decrease in claims on the resident financial sector to $283.30 million, coupled with the 16.93% ($11.64 million) contraction in the value of the securities portfolio to $57.08 million and the 5.43% ($8.79 million) drop in the value of fixed assets to $153.06 million, which altogether outweighed the 24.96% ($18.25 million) increase in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $91.40 million, the 37.01% ($4.82 million) appreciation in other assets to $17.86 million, and the 2.74% ($0.88 million) rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $33.09 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 42.79% and 25.16% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, financial institutions’ capital accounts fell by 5.45% ($24.39 million) in the first four months of 2022 to $423.05 million, with liabilities to the resident financial sector concurrently dropping by 10.61% ($12.45 million) to $104.94 million, altogether outweighing the 11.37% ($24.84 million) appreciation in other liabilities to $243.22 million and the 1.24% ($2.57 million) increase in customer deposits to $209.32 million, among others.