According to BDL statistics, the combined balance sheet of commercial banks operating in Lebanon show a staggering increase in figures in June 2024 when reported in LBP equivalent as a result of the change in the official exchange rate to LBP 89,500 per USD starting January 2024. In figures, the consolidated assets of banks stood at LBP 9,336.43 trillion by end of June 2024 compared to LBP 1,728.74 trillion in December 2023 and LBP 1,746.48 trillion in June of the previous year at a time when the official exchange rate was LBP 15,000/USD.

On the funding side of the balance sheet, customer deposits attained LBP 8,200.18 trillion in June 2024, with those of the resident private sector reaching LBP 6,245.33 trillion, non-resident private sector deposits nearing LBP 1,880.59 trillion, and public sector deposits standing at LBP 74.26 trillion. From a currency denomination standpoint, deposits in Lebanese Pounds increased by 94.78% (LBP 66.65 trillion) YTD June to LBP 136.97 trillion, while foreign currency deposits decreased by 1.30% ($1.19 billion) in the first half of the current year to $90.09 billion. In this context, the deposit dollarization rate reached 99.62% at end of June 2024 in comparison with 96.62% in December 2023 and 95.65% in June 2023. It is worth noting that foreign currency deposits in the private sector contracted by $207.38 million during the month of June 2024 while LBP-denominated deposits rose by LBP 3.28 trillion.

On the lending front, loans to the private sector (residents and non-residents) reached LBP 610.25 trillion in June 2024 compared to December 2023’s reading of LBP 124.82 trillion. More specifically, LBP denominated loans fell by 1.79% (LBP 0.20 trillion) in the first half of 2024 to LBP 11.18 trillion and foreign currency loans receded by 11.49% ($868.60 million) to $6.69 billion. It is worth noting that foreign currency loans dropped by $89.87 million during the month of June 2024 while LBP-denominated loans increased by LBP 939 billion. The ratio of loans to deposits attained 7.44% by June 2024 compared to 8.67% at end of 2023 and 9.43% a year earlier. More specifically, the ratio of LBP-denominated private sector loans to LBP deposits stood at 8.17% in June, in comparison with 16.19% at year-end 2023 and 16.09% a year earlier while the ratio of foreign currency-denominated private sector loans to foreign currency deposits reached 7.40% at end of June 2024 in comparison with 8.26% at end of December 2023 and 8.98% at end of June 2023.

The consolidated capital accounts of commercial banks operating in Lebanon stood at LBP 268.18 trillion in June 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. On a monthly basis, however, the capital accounts of the resident banking sector increased by LBP 9.89 trillion in June following a rise of 7.45 trillion in May and contractions of LBP 12.36 trillion in April, LBP 21.14 trillion in March and LBP 28.38 trillion in February. The core capital of resident banks increased by LBP 9.93 trillion in June 2024 alone, while supplementary capital decreased by LBP 0.04 trillion. It is worth noting that the non-resident core capital rose by LBP 50.52 trillion in the month of June, and was diluted by some LBP 40.13 trillion drop in the resident core capital.