According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon widened by 383.52% (LBP 6,497.71 billion) during the year 2023 to LBP 8,191.92 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 451.01% (LBP 3,718.54 billion) in 2023 to LBP 4,543.03 billion and was accompanied by some 373.85% (LBP 1,565.85 billion) rise in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 1,984.70 billion, a 323.56% (LBP 466.78 billion) rise in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 611.04 billion and a 426.67% (LBP 276.97 billion) increase in claims on the non-resident financial sector to LBP 341.88 billion not to mention the sizeable 161.86% (LBP 254.17 billion) rally in the value of fixed assets to LBP 411.20 billion, altogether outweighing the 22.48% (LBP 3.01 billion) contraction in claims on the public sector to LBP 10.36 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 55.46% and 24.23% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits soared by 730.31% (LBP 2,171.82 billion) in 2023 to LBP 2,469.20 billion, with other liabilities rising by 431.64% (LBP 1,688.31 billion) to LBP 2,079.45 billion, liabilities to the resident financial sector skyrocketing by 922.25% (LBP 1,463.94 billion) to LBP 1,622.68 billion and capital accounts soaring by 75.68% (LBP 573.29 billion) to LBP 1,330.84 billion, only to name a few.