According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon widened by 366.39% (LBP 6,207.45 billion) during the first eleven months of 2023 to LBP 7,901.66 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 468.80% (LBP 3,865.21 billion) YTD November 2023 to LBP 4,689.71 billion and was accompanied by some 360.46% (LBP 1,509.78 billion) rise in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 1,928.62 billion, a 166.66% (LBP 240.43 billion) rise in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 384.69 billion and a 134.17% (LBP 210.69 billion) increase in the value of fixed assets to LBP 367.72 billion not to mention the sizeable 284.49% (LBP 184.67 billion) rally in claims on the non-resident financial sector to LBP 249.59 billion, altogether outweighing the 24.00% (LBP 3.21 billion) contraction in claims on the public sector to LBP 10.16 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 59.35% and 24.41% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits soared by 617.57% (LBP 1,836.56 billion) YTD November 2023 to LBP 2,133.94 billion, with other liabilities rising by 396.68% (LBP 1,551.55 billion) to LBP 1,942.69 billion, liabilities to the resident financial sector skyrocketing by 960.82% (LBP 1,525.16 billion) to LBP 1,683.90 billion and liabilities to the non-resident financial sector soaring by 922.20% (LBP 782.50 billion) to LBP 867.35 billion, only to name a few.