Balance of Payments positive
for the second consecutive year

Surplus estimated at $1.4 billion

in addition to $5 billion increase in gold value

The Balance of Payments (BoP) surplus has widened to $6.4 billion in 2024, according to figures published by the Central Bank (BDL). It includes a $5 billion increase in the value of gold. “The significant increase in the change of BDL’s Net Foreign Assets (NFA) is mainly explained by the increase in the value of the monetary gold,” read a BDL statement.

Excluding gold, the surplus is $1.4 billion. It was $2.2 billion in 2023, when changes in gold value were not included at that time.

This is the first year that fluctuations in gold prices are reflected in the BoP. In January 2024, BDL started including gold in its foreign assets. It also included non-resident foreign securities held by BDL, and foreign currencies and deposits with correspondent banks and international organizations. At the same time, the Central Bank excluded from its foreign assets the government’s sovereign bonds and BDL’s foreign currency loans to resident banks and resident financial institutions.


Source: Central Bank

The BoP surplus consists of a $5.7 billion increase in BDL’s NFA in addition to a $723 million growth in the banks’ NFA. The growth in the banks’ NFA has occurred despite the settlement of foreign currencies to depositors under BDL’s circulars such as Circular 158. “The increase in the banks’ NFA would have been relatively lower at a constant exchange rate, as the change in the official exchange rate from LL15,000 to LL89,500 decreases their lira non-resident liabilities when expressed in dollars and ultimately increases their NFA,” said Marwan Barakat, Group Chief Economist and Head of Research at Bank Audi. “The surplus comes within the context of a conservative monetary policy adopted by the Central Bank that consists in abstaining from financing the government and safeguarding currency stability,” he said.