The balance sheet of Lebanon's Central Bank has shown a decline in its foreign assets by $171.62 million during the second half of June 2022, bringing the total to $15.34 billion, compared to $15.51 billion two weeks earlier. The Central Bank clarified that "after deducting the value of the Lebanese Eurobond portfolio held by the Central Bank, which amounts to $5.03 billion, its foreign currency reserves stand at $10.31 billion." It was noted that this decrease can be attributed to the Central Bank's decision in late May to allow individual and corporate depositors to purchase U.S. dollars on the Sayrafa platform through banks, up to limits set by the banks until the end of June. However, these limits were reduced during the second half of June, which explains the slowdown in the decline of the Central Bank's foreign currency assets after June 15.
In this context, the Central Bank’s foreign assets decreased by $680.13 million in June, compared to a decrease of $234.12 million in May. Additionally, the balance sheet of the Central Bank showed a decline of 0.51% ($86.23 million) in its gold reserves, bringing the total to $16.73 billion, amid a drop in gold prices following the contraction in Gross Domestic Product in the United States and a decline in consumer confidence.
On an annual basis, the value of the Central Bank's foreign assets decreased by 25.38% ($5.22 billion) compared to the levels at the end of June 2021, which amounted to $20.56 billion at that time. In another aspect, the value of the Central Bank's gold reserves increased by 3.20% ($0.52 billion) compared to the level recorded in the same period of 2021, which was $16.21 billion. The total reserves (foreign assets and gold reserves) constitute about 27.04% of the total public debt and 31.08% of the net public debt, covering approximately 176 months of debt servicing.
