Balance of Payments Deficit as Change of NFA at $893.2M by September 2026, Compared to a Surplus of $13,894.6M by September 2025

BDL compiled September 2026 data using the two below sources as per the IMF recommendation to align with the International Norms:

• The “Sixth Edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual” (BPM6, paragraph 6.64)
• The “Monetary & Financial Statistics Manual & Compilation Guide” (MFSM-2016 paragraph 4.16 & footnote 2 page 55)

According to BDL’s latest monetary report, the Balance of Payments (BoP) recorded a cumulative deficit of $893.2M up to September 2026, far below the surplus over the same period last year of $13,894.6M.

Based on the BDL Central Council’s Decision Number 37/20/24 dated 13/09/2024, BDL’s foreign assets starting January 2024 include the Monetary Gold, the Non-Resident Foreign Securities held by BDL, and the Foreign Currencies & Deposits with Correspondent Banks & International Organization; while excluding the Lebanese Government’s Sovereign Bonds and the BDL loans in FX to Resident Banks and Financial Institutions. 

Accordingly, cumulative Net Foreign Assets (NFAs) of BDL fell by $2,247.9M while the cumulative NFAs of commercial banks increased by $1,354.7M by September 2026.

On a monthly basis, NFAs of BDL decreased by $2,505.9M while the NFAs of commercial banks increased by $187.1M in September 2026.

For a more meaningful analysis, we examine the NFAs of commercial banks for the month of September 2026. On the liabilities side, “Non-resident financial sector liabilities” increased by $0.5M to reach $2.3B; in addition, “Non-resident customers’ deposits” decreased by $55.52M to reach $21.2B. Meanwhile, on the asset side, “claims on non-resident financial sector” decreased by $11.4M to reach $6.01B for the same period; while, “other foreign assets” dropped by $26.0M to stand at $2.92B; similarly, “Non-resident securities portfolio” increased by $9.5M recording $1.84B.

Cumulative Changes in the Net Foreign Assets of the Banking Sector up to September (2023-2026) in $M

_{Sources: BDL, BLOMINVEST Bank}

By Marybelle Esthephan