According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon widened by 376.02% (LBP 6,370.50 billion) during the first nine months of 2023 to LBP 8,064.72 billion, up from LBP 1,694.21 billion at year-end 2022. This sizeable increase is mostly explained by the adoption of the new official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 per USD starting February instead of LBP 1,507.5 previously. In details, claims on customers rose by 443.27% (LBP 3,654.72 billion) YTD September 2023 to LBP 4,479.22 billion and was accompanied by some 394.40% (LBP 1,651.94 billion) rise in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 2,070.79 billion, a 1838.92% (LBP 313.44 billion) increase in the value of other assets to LBP 330.49 billion and a 178.19% (LBP 257.06 billion) rise in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 401.33 billion, altogether outweighing the 56.51% (LBP 7.55 billion) contraction in claims on the public sector to LBP 5.81 billion. It is worth noting that claims on customers and claims on the resident financial sector are the two largest asset categories on financial institutions’ balance sheet, accounting for 55.54% and 25.68% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits soared by 626.60% (LBP 1,863.39 billion) YTD September 2023 to LBP 2,160.78 billion, with other liabilities rising by 460.81% (LBP 1,802.42 billion) to LBP 2,193.56 billion, liabilities to the resident financial sector skyrocketing by 818.80% (LBP 1,299.73 billion) to LBP 1,458.47 billion and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector soaring by 921.95% (LBP 782.29 billion) to LBP 867.14 billion, only to name a few.