According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon show a sizeable increase in figures in the first month of 2024 when converted to LBP as a result of the change of the official exchange rate to LBP 89,500 per USD. In figures, total assets of investment banks read LBP 70,739 billion in the first month of 2024, compared to LBP 21,355 billion at end of 2023 at a time when the exchange rate was LBP 15,000 per USD. In details, cash & deposits with Central Banks reached LBP 25,767 billion, with claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers) attaining LBP 15,059 billion, the securities portfolio leveling at LBP 9,013 billion and claims on the non-resident financial sector reaching LBP 5,316 billion. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) stood at LBP 41,164 billion in January of the current year, with investment banks’ other liabilities attaining LBP 14,669 billion and capital accounts reaching LBP 8,805 billion, 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 LBP 15,059 billion in the first month of 2024 compared to LBP 4,512 billion in December 2023.