According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon narrowed by 1.35% (LBP 1,098.62 billion) during the first five months of 2025 to LBP 80,269 billion, down from LBP 81,368 billion at end of 2024. In details, claims on the private sector (comprising resident and non-resident customers) dropped by 20.89% (LBP 3,379.80 billion) to LBP 12,798 billion and were accompanied by some 8.83% (LBP 1,140.03 billion) decrease in the value of the securities portfolio to LBP 11,776 billion, which together outweighed the 40.79% (LBP 2,714.20 billion) rise in claims on the non-resident financial sector to LBP 9,368 billion, the 6.53% (LBP 469.12 billion) increase in the value of fixed assets to LBP 7,653 billion and a 1.76% (LBP 122.68 billion) rise in the value of other assets to LBP 7,098 billion. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident customers, in addition to the resident financial sector) fell by 13.16% (LBP 6,092.69 billion) to LBP 40,206 billion up until May 2025, and were accompanied by some 5.42% (LBP 603.70 billion) decrease in other liabilities to LBP 10,544 billion, which offset the 23.05% (LBP 3,456.07 billion) increase in investment banks’ capital accounts to LBP 18,448 billion, the 18.37% (LBP 1,500.05 billion) rise in liabilities to the non-resident financial sector to LBP 9,667 billion, and the 84.14% (LBP 641.65 billion) increase in liabilities to the public sector to LBP 1,404 billion.

Abiding by legislative decree number 50 and subsequent BDL circulars, investment banks operating in Lebanon have managed over the last couple of years to increase their lending activity to the private sector while reducing their exposure to the public sector. As a result, the surplus, representing the difference between loans to the private sector and claims on the public sector, reached LBP 12,762 billion in May 2025 compared to LBP 16,177 billion in December 2024.