The consolidated balance sheet of commercial banks operating in Lebanon shows that total assets stood at $234.6bn at the end of June 2018, constituting an increase of 6.7% from the end of 2017 and an expansion of 12.7% from end-June 2017. Loans extended to the private sector reached $59.6bn at the end of June 2018, declining by a marginal 0.2% from end-2017 and growing by 2.8% from a year earlier. Loans to the resident private sector totaled $53.1bn, constituting a decrease of 0.9% from the end of 2017 and an increase of 1.4% year-on-year; while credit to the non-resident private sector reached $6.4bn at end-June 2018 and grew by 6.1% from end-2017 and by 15.8% from a year earlier. In nominal terms, credit to the private sector regressed by $127.8m in the first half of 2018, as lending to the resident private sector contracted by $497.7m and credit to the non-resident private sector grew by $370m in the covered period. The dollarization rate in private sector lending regressed from 69.7% at end-June 2017 to 67.6% at end-June 2018.

In parallel, total private sector deposits reached $173.3bn at the end of June 2018, increasing by 2.8% from the end of 2017 and by 3.3% from a year earlier. Deposits in Lebanese pounds reached the equivalent of $54.7bn at end-June 2018, up by 3.7% from end-2017 but down by 2% from end-June 2017; while deposits in foreign currencies totaled $118.6bn, and grew by 2.3% from end-2017 and by 6% from $111.9bn a year earlier. Resident deposits totaled $136.6bn at the end of June 2018, increasing by 2.3% from the end of 2017 and by 2.7% from end-June 2017. Also, non-resident deposits reached $36.7bn at end-June 2018, up by 4.5% from end-2017 and by 5.7% from $34.8bn a year earlier. In nominal terms, private sector deposits grew by $475.4m in January, by $1.31bn in February, by $727.3m in March, by $229.2m in April, by $975.8m in May and by $934.5m in June 2018. As such, aggregate private sector deposits expanded by $4.65bn in the first half of 2018 relative to an increase of $5.24bn in the same period of 2017, with deposits in Lebanese pounds growing by $1.98bn and foreign-currency deposits increasing by $2.68bn. The dollarization rate of private sector deposits was 68.4% at the end of June 2018, relative to 68.7% at end-2017, and compared to 66.7% a year earlier.