Statistics from the Central Bank of Lebanon showed a significant increase in the aggregate balance of commercial banks operating in Lebanon in the first four months of 2023, reaching 1,734.63 trillion LBP compared to 254.85 trillion at the end of 2022. This increase is attributed to the adoption of an official exchange rate of 15,000 LBP per USD since February.

On an annual basis, resident banking sector assets increased six-fold to 1,475.16 trillion LBP compared to 259.47 trillion in April 2022. Customer deposits rose by 654.19% to 1,482.54 trillion LBP until April 2023.

The increase in deposits is due to resident private sector deposits rising by 640.82% to 1,142.71 trillion LBP, and non-resident private sector deposits rising by 815.81% to 323.01 trillion LBP. Public sector deposits increased by 138.48% to 16.82 trillion LBP.

Deposits denominated in LBP grew by 40.43% to 73.62 trillion LBP in the first four months of the current year, while deposits in foreign currencies decreased by 1.74% to reach $94.19 billion.

By the end of April 2023, the dollarization rate of private sector deposits reached 96.40%, compared to 76.25% at the end of 2022 due to the change in the official exchange rate. The deposit portfolio recorded a yearly growth rate of 645.47% to 1,283.67 trillion LBP from 198.87 trillion in April 2022.

Additionally, "Annahar" newspaper reported an increase in bank loans to the private sector by 117.05 trillion LBP (387.22%) in the first four months of the current year, reaching 147.28 trillion LBP, compared to 30.23 trillion LBP in December 2022.