According to the balance sheet of Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL), the Bank’s total assets declined by 13.44% annually, to reach $93.22 billion by mid-January 2025, under the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate maintained by BDL since February 1, 2024. The fall was mainly due to the 80.60% and 24.49% year-on-year (YOY) drop in deferred open market operations and valuation adjustment, which reached $1,554 million and $33,061 million by mid-January 2025, as per BlomInvest.
Furthermore, the gold account, representing 26.59% of BDL’s total assets, increased by 30.87% yearly to reach $24.79 billion by mid-January 2025. Regarding the foreign assets item, BDL recently replaced it with the foreign reserve assets item to include only non-resident and liquid foreign assets.
Thus, other resident and/or non-liquid assets were transferred to securities portfolios or loans to the local financial sector.
In more detail, Lebanese Government Eurobonds with a market value of $4.85 billion were transferred to the securities portfolio; whereas $298.8 million was transferred to loans to the financial sector. Therefore, to calculate the YOY change of foreign reserve assets, we deducted the Lebanese Eurobonds from foreign assets as of January 15, 2024, and the loans to the local financial sector.
As such, BDL foreign reserve assets, consisting of 11.1% of total assets (after transferring the Eurobonds to the securities portfolio and the other resident and/or non-liquid assets to loans to the financial sector) rose by 10.29% YOY and stood at $10.35 billion by mid-January 2025. Additionally, foreign reserve assets increased by $210.47 million in the first two weeks of January 2025.
On the liabilities front, financial sector deposits, representing 91.42% of BDL’s total liabilities, decreased by 4.22% annually and reached $85.22 billion by mid-January 2025 compared to last year, of which more than 90% are denominated in dollars. Moreover, public sector deposits, representing 6.54% of BDL’s total liabilities, dropped by 53.88% yearly and reached $6.1 billion by mid-January 2025.
Lastly, currency in circulation outside of BDL, consisting of 1.01% of BDL’s total liabilities, plunged by 75.38% annually to reach $939 million by mid-January 2025 amid adopting the 89,500 LBP/USD official rate by BDL, though it increased by $206 million in the first two weeks of January 2025.
Comments