According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the combined balance sheet of investment banks operating in Lebanon narrowed by 0.48% (LBP 388.81 billion) during the first eight months of 2025 to LBP 80,979 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 16.30% (LBP 2,636.75 billion) to LBP 13,541 billion and were accompanied by some 2.77% (LBP 872.09 billion) decrease in cash and deposits with Central Banks to LBP 30,586 billion and some 21.13% (LBP 2,728.64 billion) drop in the value of the securities portfolio to LBP 10,188 billion, which together outweighed the 77.56% (LBP 5,571.47 billion) rise in the value of fixed assets to LBP 12,755 billion and the 2,353.12% (LBP 34.48 billion) hike in claims on the public sector to LBP 35.94 billion. On the liabilities side, private sector deposits (resident and non-resident deposits in addition to resident financial sector deposits) fell by 14.35% (LBP 6,645.20 billion) in the first eight months of 2025 to LBP 39,654 billion, and were accompanied by some 34.56% (263.57 billion) drop in liabilities to the public sector to LBP 499 billion, which eroded the 35.12% (LBP 5,264.92 billion) increase in investment banks’ capital accounts to LBP 20,257 billion, the 5.67% (LBP 632.24 billion) increase in other liabilities to LBP 11,780 billion, and the 7.63% (LBP 622.81 billion) increase in liabilities to the non-resident financial sector to LBP 8,790 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 13,505 billion in August 2025 compared to LBP 16,177 billion in December 2024.