Lebanon’s broad money supply (M3) growth slowed to 6.4% y/y in October 2013 from 6.9% a month earlier, totalling LBP 1.643tn (USD 111bn) the central bank said. M3 growth remains underpinned mainly by strong bank lending, mainly to the private sector, and rising bank deposits. M2 grew 5.7% y/y in October, cooling from 6.4% the month before. M1 growth braked to a still high 10.8% y/y from 21.9% in September.
Loans to the private sector (resident and non-resident) grew 7.0% ytd to LBP 70.1tn at end-October. The dollarization rate of those loans stood at 76.7% and the ratio of total loans to total deposits reached 35.2%. Total bank deposits, including resident and non-resident private sector deposits and public sector deposits, increased 8.0% y/y and 5.7% ytd to LBP 203.5tn at end-October accounting for 84.0% of total assets.
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