Lebanese bank deposits slump $15bn in 2020 as confidence sinks

Lebanese bank deposits slump $15bn in 2020 as confidence sinks

Lebanese banks have signalled a $31 billion drop in deposits since early 2019, the largest drop for decades, as confidence in banks sinks as the country's economic crisis continues to deteriorate.

Banking sector statistics for the first seven months of 2020 showed a significant year-to-date contraction in deposits of $15.6 billion, almost equivalent to the 2019 full-year contraction.

Banking sector deposits have fallen from $174.3 billion in late-December 2018 to $158.9 billion in December 2019 and to $143.3 billion in July.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist and head of Economic Research and Analysis Department at Byblos Bank, told Arabian Business: "Contrary to what some people claim and what many believe, the decline in bank deposits of $31 billion since the beginning of 2019 does not necessarily mean that all this money has left Lebanon."

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