According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 3.16% (LBP 1,382.60 billion) during the month of January 2025 to LBP 42,390.42 billion, down from LBP 43,773.02 billion at year-end 2024. This can be attributed to the 15.14% (LBP 1,733.89 billion) decrease in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 9,716.04 billion, coupled with the 10.27% (LBP 188.79 billion) drop in claims on the non-resident financial sector to LBP 1,649.36 billion and the 6.80% (LBP 166.60 billion) decrease in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 2,282.59 billion, which altogether outweighed the 2.57% (LBP 667.45 billion) increase in claims on customers to LBP 26,654.71 billion and the 14.47% (LBP 31.63 billion) rise in the value of other assets to LBP 250.22 billion, among others. 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 62.88% and 22.92% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits dropped by 10.30% (LBP 1,369.75 billion) in January 2025 to LBP 11,931.33 billion, with liabilities to the non-resident financial sector decreasing by 5.85% (LBP 174.78 billion) to LBP 2,811.07 billion and liabilities to the resident financial sector receding by 1.20% (LBP 110.43 billion) to LBP 9,085.32 billion among others, totally eroding the 28.66% increase (LBP 361.45 billion) in the value of issued debt securities to LBP 1,622.69 billion.