The Lebanese Central Bank’s balance sheet conveys some $184.71 million (1.61%) appreciation in the foreign reserve assets portfolio during the first half of June 2026 to $11.63 billion (LBP 1,041.00 trillion), up from $11.45 billion (LBP 1,024.47 trillion) two weeks earlier. It is worth noting that foreign reserve assets at BDL saw a sharp $3.06 billion increase between the beginning of August 2023 (end of the mandate of previous Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh) and mid-June 2026 as a result of the new monetary policy of the Central Bank which refrains from financing the government, lifted subsidies, and limited the printing of the local currency. On the other hand, foreign reserve assets at BDL dropped by $263.49 million since the beginning of the current year and by $246.23 million since the start of the war in March. Conversely, the value of gold reserves at BDL decreased by 4.13% ($1.73 billion) in the first half of June to $40.00 billion (LBP 3,579.80 trillion) as gold prices dropped owing to increasing concerns over rising inflation that could force the Federal Reserve to either raise interest rates later-on in 2026 or keep them steady.

The value of foreign reserve assets at BDL increased by $332.61 million (2.94%) year-on-year from a reading of $11.30 billion at mid-June 2025. Concurrently, gold reserves rose by $8.42 billion (26.67%) year-on-year when benchmarked to the $31.58 billion level recorded at mid-June 2025 as demand for gold was robust amid world inflationary pressure, trade wars, and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

In a related note, BDL’s balance sheet widened by 0.51% in the first half of June 2026 to LBP 8,364.19 trillion amid the 11.83% rise in the valuation adjustment account to LBP 1,402.56 trillion, some 4777.93% rally in the value of fixed assets to LBP 34.15 trillion (as BDL’s real estate portfolio was revalued in June 2026), and a 1.61% increase in the value of foreign reserve assets, which altogether outweighed the 4.13% drop in gold reserves, the 0.49% contraction in the value of securities portfolio to LBP 581.73 trillion, and the 1.57% decline in loans to the local financial sector to LBP 38.40 trillion.

The share of BDL’s gold reserves and foreign reserve assets reached 42.80% and 12.45% of the latter’s total balance sheet on a respective basis at mid-June 2026, compared to 44.87% and 12.31% two weeks earlier.