According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon widened by 373.32% (LBP 6,324.86 billion) during the first ten months of 2023 to LBP 8,019.08 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 474.51% (LBP 3,912.34 billion) YTD October 2023 to LBP 4,736.83 billion and was accompanied by some 381.06% (LBP 1,596.03 billion) rise in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 2,014.88 billion, a 166.88% (LBP 240.75 billion) rise in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 385.01 billion and a 129.32% (LBP 203.08 billion) increase in the value of fixed assets to LBP 360.11 billion not to mention the sizeable 245.93% (LBP 133.44 billion) rally in the value of the securities portfolio to LBP 187.70 billion, altogether outweighing the 21.16% (LBP 2.83 billion) contraction in claims on the public sector to LBP 10.54 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 59.07% and 25.13% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits soared by 603.10% (LBP 1,793.51 billion) YTD October 2023 to LBP 2,090.89 billion, with other liabilities rising by 454.06% (LBP 1,775.99 billion) to LBP 2,167.13 billion, liabilities to the resident financial sector skyrocketing by 970.72% (LBP 1,540.88 billion) to LBP 1,699.62 billion and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector soaring by 941.51% (LBP 798.88 billion) to LBP 883.73 billion, only to name a few.