BDL assets at $91 billion
up by a yearly six percent

Assets from exchange operations of financial instruments was main growth driver

The Central Bank’s (BDL) assets grew by 6.1 percent to $91.4 billion at the end of 2015 compared with the end of 2014.

The growth was mainly driven by assets from exchange operations of financial instruments, which totaled $11.6 billion at the end of 2015 compared with nil a year earlier.

BDL’s securities portfolio also contributed to the total asset growth as it surged 29 percent to $18.1 billion. The increase was due to purchases of Treasury bills by the Central Bank, which had issued certificates of deposit to banks against these purchases, said Marwan Barakat, Head of Research at Bank Audi.

Foreign assets decreased by two percent to $37.3 billion at the end of 2015.

Gold reserves fell by ten percent to $9.9 billion, due to the drop in gold prices last year, while the quantity of gold reserves remained unchanged at 9.2 million ounces.

On the liabilities side, the financial sector deposits at the Central Bank increased by ten percent to $74.6 billion. The growth in these deposits was mainly driven by significant subscription by local banks to the certificates of deposit issued by BDL, Barakat said.