The balance sheet of the Banque du Liban showed that total assets reached 148.7 billion dollars on January 15, 2021, without any significant change from 148.6 billion dollars at the end of 2020, which is an increase of 4.7% from 142 billion Dollars in mid-January 2020.

According to a report issued by Byblos Bank based on the Central Bank's figures, assets in foreign currencies amounted to $23.7 billion in mid-January 2021, representing a decrease of $13.2 billion, or 35.8%, from $37 billion in mid-January 2020, a decrease of $356.7 million, or 1.5%, at the end of 2020.

The assets in foreign currencies included Lebanese Eurobonds worth 5.03 billion dollars compared to 5.7 billion dollars at the end of 2019. When excluding the Lebanese euro bonds, the assets of the Central Bank of Lebanon in foreign currencies amounted to 18.7 billion dollars in mid-January 2021, meaning a decrease of 12.6 billion dollars, or 40.2%, from mid-January 2020. The total decrease in the assets of the Banque du Liban in foreign currencies, excluding Lebanese Eurobonds, is due to financing the import of fuel, flour, and medicine, medical equipment, and support for a food basket that includes more than 300 food and non-food items, in addition to raw materials used in the agricultural and industrial sectors, and also to the payment of the Bank of Lebanon on behalf of the Lebanese government of outstanding Eurobonds in addition to the external debt service until the beginning of March 2020, and to the exit of deposits, and to the injection of foreign currencies into the exchange market by the Banque du Liban. The decrease in the assets of the Banque du Liban in foreign currencies is mainly due to the banks' repayment of their loans in foreign currencies to the BDL.

In addition, the value of gold reserves in the Central Bank of Lebanon reached 17.1 billion dollars in mid-January 2021, representing an increase of 19.5% from 14.3 billion dollars in mid-January 2020, and a decrease of 1.3% from $17.3 billion at the end of the year 2020. The value of gold reserves in mid-September 2020 reached a peak of $ 8.1 billion.

Source (Economic Bulletin website, Edited)