According to BDL statistics, the combined balance sheet of commercial banks operating in Lebanon show a staggering increase in figures in January 2024 when reported in LBP equivalent as a result of the change of the official exchange rate to LBP 89,500 per USD. In figures, the consolidated assets of banks stood at LBP 9,364.88 trillion in the first month of 2024 compared to LBP 1,728.74 trillion in December 2023 at a time when the official exchange rate was LBP 15,000/USD and LBP 253.21 trillion a year earlier (when the LBP 1,507.5/USD exchange rate was being adopted).

On the funding side of the balance sheet, customer deposits attained LBP 8,233.72 trillion in January 2024, with those of the resident private sector reaching LBP 6,290.28 trillion, non-resident private sector deposits surpassing LBP 1,877 trillion, and public sector deposits standing at LBP 65.83 trillion. From a currency denomination standpoint, deposits in Lebanese Pounds increased by 69.64% (LBP 48.97 trillion) in January to LBP 119.29 trillion, mainly on the back the aforementioned increase in deposits by public sector institutions such as the National Social Security Fund, while foreign currency deposits decreased by 0.68% ($616.40 million) to $90.66 billion. This sizeable monthly drop in FC-deposits can be attributed to the offsetting of some ~$360 million in FC loans (prior to the change in the official exchange rate to LBP 89,500 in February), coupled with the ongoing withdrawal of FC deposits under the provisions of BDL circular 158 and the sustained conversion of part of FC-deposits to LBP under the provisions of BDL circular 151. In this context, the deposit dollarization rate reached 99.63% at end of January 2024 in comparison with 96.62% in December 2023 and 76.05% in January 2023.

On the lending front, loans to the private sector (residents and non-residents) reached LBP 655.45 trillion in January 2024 up from December 2023’s reading of LBP 124.82 trillion. More specifically, LBP denominated loans fell by 4.70% (LBP 535.62 billion) in the first month of 2024 to LBP 10.85 trillion and foreign currency loans receded by 4.76% ($360.00 million) to $7.20 billion. The ratio of loans to deposits attained 7.96% by January 2024 compared to 8.67% at end of 2023 and 14.98% a year earlier. More specifically, the ratio of LBP-denominated private sector loans to LBP deposits stood at 9.10% in January, in comparison with 16.19% at year-end 2023 and 27.72% a year earlier while the ratio of foreign currency-denominated private sector loans to foreign currency deposits reached 7.92% at end of January 2024 in comparison with 8.26% at end of December 2023 and 10.23% at end of January 2023.

The consolidated capital accounts of commercial banks operating in Lebanon stood at LBP 312.73 trillion in January 2024 in comparison with LBP 76.37 trillion at end of year 2023 as a result of the aforementioned change in the official exchange rate.