According to Central Bank statistics, the financial sector’s utilized credits expanded by 368.85% y-o-y to LBP 959.03 trillion in March 2024 up from LBP 204.55 trillion at end of March 2023 as the official devaluation of the local currency against the US Dollar in January 2024 to LBP 89,500 per USD from LBP 15,000 per USD previously increased the LBP counter value of USD-denominated credits by a factor of five. Of total utilized credits, some LBP 55.9 billion represent the value of utilized credits benefiting from banks liabilities subject to reserve requirements. The breakdown of utilized credits by type of facility reveals a sizeable concentration in Overdrafts (LBP 395.40 trillion <41.23%>), followed by Advances Against Real Estate (LBP 305.16 trillion <31.82%>) and Advances Against Personal Guarantees (LBP 140.82 trillion <14.68%>) only to name a few. The total number of utilized credit transactions stood at 143,759 as at end of March 2024, implying an average credit balance of around LBP 6.671 billion per credit line.

From a sectoral breakdown perspective, loans to the Trade & Services sector enjoyed the lion’s share (LBP 354.84 trillion <37.00%>) of total utilized credits, followed by loans to the Construction sector (LBP 244.16 trillion <25.46%>) and Industry (LBP 131.89 trillion <13.75%>). As for the distribution of utilized credits by number of borrowers, the number of Individual borrowers topped the list of borrowers (73.36% of total borrowers), followed by beneficiaries from the Trade & Services sector (16.76%) and borrowers in the Industrial sector (5.20%).

Geographically, the Beirut & Suburbs region amassed the highest concentration of utilized credits, detaining a share of 85.57% by end of March 2024, followed by the Mount Lebanon (7.16%), South (2.90%), North (2.56%), and Bekaa (1.81%) regions.