The consolidated balance sheet of commercial banks operating in Lebanon shows that total assets stood at $208.5bn at the end of March 2020, constituting a decrease of 3.8% from $216.8bn at the end of 2019 and a decline of 17.5% from $252.8bn at end-March 2019. The year-on-year decline in assets is mainly due to the "netting" on the assets and liabilities' sides of the consolidated balance sheet of banks, as part of the implementation of international accounting standard IFRS 7 starting in December 2019.
 
Loans extended to the private sector reached $45bn at the end of March 2020, regressing by 9.6% from end-2019 and by 21.5% from a year earlier. Loans to the resident private sector totaled $40bn, constituting a decrease of 9.5% from the end of 2019 and of 20.8% from end-March 2019. Also, credit to the non-resident private sector reached $5bn at end-March 2020, declining by 10% from end-2019 and by 26.8% from a year earlier. In nominal terms, credit to the private sector contracted by $4.8bn in the first quarter of 2020 relative to a decrease of $2.1bn in the same quarter of 2019, as lending to the resident private sector declined by $4.2bn and credit to the non-resident private sector regressed by $552.8m in the covered quarter. 
 
In addition, claims on non-resident financial institutions stood at $5.1bn at the end of March 2020 and declined by $1.6bn (-24%) from end-2019, by $4bn (-43.7%) from the end of August 2019, and by $5.5bn (-51.7%) from a year earlier. Also, deposits at foreign central banks totaled $626.2m, constituting an increase of 6.4% from end-2019 and a drop of 34.3% from end-March 2019. In addition, claims on the public sector stood at $25.1bn at end-March 2020, down by $3.6bn (-12.4%) from end-2019 and by $8.2bn (-24.6%) from the end of March 2019. The banks' holdings of Lebanese Treasury bills stood at $14.2bn at the end of March 2020, down by $473.8m (-3.2%) from the end of 2019; while their holdings of Lebanese Eurobonds reached $10.8bn at end-March 2020, constituting a decline of $3bn (-22%) from end-2019, largely due to the banks' selling of Lebanese Eurobonds. Further, the deposits of commercial banks at BdL totaled $117.8bn at the end of March 2020, nearly unchanged from the end of 2019.
 
In parallel, private sector deposits totaled $149.6bn at the end of March 2020, and decreased by 5.8% from the end of 2019 and by 13.3% from end-March 2019. Deposits in Lebanese pounds reached the equivalent of $33bn at end-March 2020, down by 13.4% from the end of 2019 and by 35% from a year earlier; while deposits in foreign currency stood at $116.6bn, as they regressed by 3.5% from end-2019 and by 4.3% from end-March 2019. Resident deposits totaled $120bn at the end of March 2020 and decreased by $6.5bn (-5.1%) from the end of 2019 and by $15.6bn (-11.5%) from a year earlier. Also, non-resident deposits reached $29.6bn at end-March 2020, as they regressed by $2.8bn (-8.7%) from end-2019 and by $7.3bn (-19.7%) from the end of March 2019. In nominal terms, private sector deposits declined by $3.8bn in January, by $3.4bn in February, and by $2.1bn in March 2020. As such, aggregate private sector deposits regressed by $9.3bn in the first quarter of 2020 relative to a decrease of $1.8bn in the same quarter of 2019, with deposits in Lebanese pounds dropping by $5.1bn and foreign-currency deposits declining by $4.2bn. In comparison, private sector deposits declined by $2.2bn in September, by $1.9bn in October, by $5.8bn in November and by $3.7bn in December 2019. As such, aggregate private sector deposits dropped by $22.9bn in the seven-month period ending in March 2020, due largely to the repayment of loans, to the hoarding of cash at households, and to deposit outflows.