Figures issued by Banque du Liban (BdL) show that the net foreign assets of the financial sector, which are a proxy for Lebanon's balance of payments, increased by $2.48bn in the first four months of 2026, compared to increases of $7.84bn in the same period of 2025 and of $2.77bn in the first four months of 2024. The cumulative surplus in the first four months of 2026 was caused by increases of $1.87bn in the net foreign assets of BdL and of $609.7m in those of banks and financial institutions.  Further, the net foreign assets of the financial sector increased by $816.4m in April 2026 compared to a decrease of $6bn in March 2026 and to a rise of $2.47bn in April 2025. The April rise was caused by increases of $482.2m in the net foreign assets of BdL and of $334.3m in those of banks and financial institutions. According to BdL figures, the cumulative rise in BdLꞌs net foreign assets in the first four months of 2026 is due mainly to increases of $2.3bn in the value of BdL's gold reserves and of $1.3bn in its foreign securities, which outpaced the decrease of $1.78m in its foreign currency reserves during the covered period. BdL’s foreign assets include gold reserves, foreign currency reserves and foreign securities.  Also, the rise in the net foreign assets of banks in the covered period is mostly due to an increase of $156.6m in the banks' claims on the non-resident financial sector, an uptick of $17.1m in claims on non-resident customers and a decrease of $107.4m in non-resident customer deposits, which were offset by an increase of $22.5m in the deposits of the non-resident financial sector. In parallel, when excluding the change in the value of BdL’s gold reserves, the net foreign assets of the financial sector decreased by $149.2m in the first four months of 2026 compared to an increase of $1.72bn in the same period last year.  BdL said that it started in January 2024 to include monetary gold, the non-resident foreign securities held by BdL, and the foreign currencies & deposits with correspondent banks and international organizations as part of its foreign assets; while it excluded the Lebanese government's sovereign bonds and its loans in foreign currency to resident banks and financial institutions from the entry. It attributed the modifications to its adoption of the IMF's methodology as stipulated in the latter's Sixth Edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, LTW, 1-6 June 2026