According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon widened by 1.08% during the first five months of 2022 to $4.05 billion, up from $4.01 billion at end of 2021. In details, cash and deposits with Central Banks rose by 12.81% YTD May 2022 to $1.50 billion, coupled with some 6.62% appreciation in the value of other assets to $82 million and a 5.88% increase in the value of securities portfolio to $617 million, altogether outweighing a 9.54% drop in claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers) to $1.46 billion and a 23.56% contraction in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $45 million. On the liabilities side, investment banks’ capital accounts rose by 6.07% in the first five months of 2022 to $1.68 billion, with liabilities to the public sector increasing by 55.02% to $8 million and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector appreciating by 1.01% to $151 million, outweighing the 2.27% drop in private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) to around $1.09 billion and the 2.20% contraction in other liabilities to $1.13 billion not to mention the full reimbursement of previously issued debt securities.

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 $1.45 billion by end of May 2022.