According to Central Bank statistics, the financial sector’s utilized credits fell by 19.64% y-o-y to nearly LBP 49,759.43 billion ($33.01 billion) in the first quarter of 2022, down from LBP 61,922.08 billion ($41.08 billion) a year earlier, as borrowers flocked to prepay loans from their deposit accounts in fear of any haircuts on deposits not to mention the sizeable depreciation of the Lebanese pound. Of total utilized credits, some LBP 475.7 billion ($0.32 billion) represent the value of utilized credits benefiting from banks liabilities subject to reserve requirements. The breakdown of utilized credits by type of facility reveals a sizeable concentration in Advances Against Real Estate ($15.05 billion <45.58%>), followed by Overdrafts ($11.24 billion <34.06%>) and Advances Against Personal Guarantees ($4.46 billion <13.50%>) only to name a few. The total number of utilized credit transactions stood at 293,496 as at end of March 2022, implying an average credit balance of around LBP 169,540 million ($112.465) per credit line.

From a sectoral breakdown perspective, loans to the Trade & Services sector enjoyed the lion’s share ($10.64 billion <32.24%>) of total utilized credits, followed by Individuals ($10.13 billion <30.70%>) and loans to the Construction sector ($5.47 billion <16.59%>). As for the distribution of utilized credits by number of borrowers, the number of Individual borrowers topped the list of borrowers (82.96% of total borrowers), followed by beneficiaries from the Trade & Services sector (11.60%) and borrowers in the Industrial sector (3.27%).

Geographically, the Beirut & Suburbs region amassed the highest concentration of utilized credits, detaining a 75.01% share by March 2022, followed by the Mount Lebanon (13.17%), North (4.68%), South (3.99%), and Bekaa (3.16%) regions.