According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon rose by 0.67% during the first month of 2023 to $3.83 billion, up from $3.80 billion at end of 2022. In details, claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers) soared by 14.86% to $1.70 billion, coupled with some 31.66% rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to $47 million and a 2.83% increase in the value of the securities portfolio to $572 million, altogether outweighing the 17.22% contraction in cash and deposits with Central Banks to $1.07 billion and a 0.43% drop in the value of fixed assets to $337 million. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) rose by 9.88% in January 2023 to $1.05 billion, outweighing the 3.65% drop in investment banks’ capital accounts to $1.60 billion and the 3.65% decrease in liabilities to the non-resident financial sector to $165 million, only to name a few.

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 $1.70 billion.