Check clearing activity rebounded during the month of April with the number of checks accelerating by 31.08% month-on-month to 21,633, mainly owing to a weak base effect as the repercussions of the war choked activity in March. On an annual basis, fresh check clearing activity pursued its positive momentum with the total number of checks increasing by around 160.62% year-on-year to ~53.16K during the first four month of 2026 from 20.40K a year earlier. In addition, statistics are showing a much higher prevalence for fresh denominated checks, with their contribution increasing from 35.07% of total clearing activity YTD April 2025 (LBP contribution of 12.15% and USD contribution of 88.69%) to 68.81% YTD April 2026 (38.47% for LBP & 97.81% for USD). In details, the total number of fresh LBP-denominated checks rose from 4,949 in the first four months of 2025 to 14,527 in the same period this year, with their value rising by 136.14% to LBP 22,452 billion. Similarly, the total number of fresh USD-denominated checks rose from 15,449 by end of April 2025 to 38,634 YTD April 2026 with the value of these checks increasing exponentially to $490.11 million from $213.08 million in the first four months of 2025. Of the total number of fresh cleared checks, 72.67% was denominated in foreign currency, versus 75.74% a year before.

The value of non-fresh LBP-denominated cleared checks expanded by 11.31% y-o-y during the first four months of 2026 to LBP 21,807 billion (distributed over 23,233 checks) from LBP 19,592 billion (distributed over 35,794 checks) a year earlier. On the other hand, the value of non-fresh USD-denominated cleared checks contracted by 59.60% y-o-y to $120 million (distributed over 865 checks) from $297 million (distributed over 1,970 checks) in the first four months of 2025. Of the total number of non-fresh cleared checks, 96.41% was denominated in local currency, versus 94.78% a year before.

In a related note, the total number of returned checks (fresh and non-fresh) expressed as a percentage of the total number of cleared checks dropped to 0.39% during the first four months of 2026 down from 0.53% a year earlier. In details, the number of LBP-denominated returned checks (fresh & non-fresh) calculated as a percentage of the number of LBP-denominated cleared checks dropped to 0.27% by end of April 2026 down from 0.39% a year earlier with that of USD-denominated ones (fresh & non-fresh) calculated as a percentage of total USD-denominated cleared checks slowing to 0.50% down from 0.87% in the first four months of 2025.