According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 2.83% (LBP 1,240.70 billion) in the first two months of 2025 to LBP 42,532.32 billion, down from LBP 43,773.02 billion at year-end 2024. This can be attributed to the 14.00% (LBP 1,602.90 billion) decrease in claims on the resident financial sector to LBP 9,847.02 billion, coupled with the 13.85% (LBP 254.52 billion) drop in claims on the non-resident financial sector to LBP 1,583.62 billion and the 3.38% (LBP 41.24 billion) decrease in the value of the securities portfolio to LBP 1,176.98 billion, which altogether outweighed the 2.03% (LBP 526.73 billion) increase in claims on customers to LBP 26,513.99 billion, the 3.26% (LBP 79.94 billion) rise in cash & deposits with central banks to LBP 2,529.14 billion, and the 12.66% (LBP 27.68 billion) increase in the value of other assets to LBP 246.27 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 62.34% and 23.15% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, customer deposits dropped by 13.91% (LBP 1,850.30 billion) YTD February 2025 to LBP 11,450.78 billion, with other liabilities decreasing by 2.79% (LBP 235.25 billion) to LBP 8,190.89 billion and liabilities to the resident financial sector receding by 1.10% (LBP 101.44 billion) to LBP 9,094.31 billion, totally eroding the 58.44% (LBP 737.10 billion) increase in the value of issued debt securities to LBP 1,998.33 billion and the 1.49% rise (LBP 122.61 billion) in capital accounts to LBP 8,341.89 billion only to name a few.