Lebanon's Central Bank Announces Decline in Liquid Assets

Lebanon's Central Bank issued a statement indicating that "based on the accounting restrictions effective from 2023/8/15, and after reviewing the figures with the relevant departments, it was shown that the external liquid assets in foreign currencies at the Central Bank amounted to 8,542 million US dollars, reflecting a decrease between the end of July and mid-August 2023." The statement highlighted that the decline in liquid assets was due to the devaluation of the euro against the US dollar during the same period, along with the payment of interest due on Arab deposits and the costs related to Circular 158. Additionally, the statement noted that during the same period, the market value of the euro bond portfolio increased from 387 to 421.8 million US dollars according to Bloomberg. The statement also provided a detailed breakdown of these external liquid assets.