Lebanon’s gold reserves value increases by $1 billion in two weeks

BEIRUT — The latest balance sheet published by the Banque Du Liban reportedly showed the value of the country’s gold reserves to have gone up by $1 billion, from $24.7 billion in mid-January to $25.7 billion on Jan. 31.At just $15 billion by the end of 2019, according to the director of the research department at Byblos Bank Nassib Ghobril, this constitutes an increase of roughly 71 percent across the six-year timeframe.This is likely to have a positive impact on Lebanon’s balance of payment (BOP). An amendment to its measurement method was made in Jan. 2024, with gold now included under the BDL’s foreign assets, a component of the BOP.This jump, including its most recent one, is attributed to the increase in gold prices worldwide, which have been gradually rising, reaching an all-time high of $2,860.71 per ounce (around 31g) at 7:30 pm...