Directed Loans and Credit Portfolio Rearrangement: Deviant Lending Behavior of Iranian Banks

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the mechanism through which directed loans influence the credit portfolio composition of Iranian banks and to identify the pathways of deviant lending behavior.Methodology: This research is descriptive–analytical, based on secondary analysis of monetary and banking data. Data were extracted from reports of the Iran Chamber of Commerce Research Center, the Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank circulars, and official banking network statistics for the period ۲۰۱۹–۲۰۲۶. The analysis focuses on trends in key indicators including the capital adequacy ratio, the share of directed loans in total uses, credit portfolio composition, and the non-performing loan ratio.Findings: Findings indicate that the volume of directed loans increased from approximately ۲۰۰ trillion tomans in ۲۰۲۴ to ۵۸۰ trillion tomans in ۲۰۲۶, while the banking network's capital adequacy ratio fell from ۵.۶% before the sanctions to ۰.۵% in ۲۰۲۳ (Iran Chamber Research Center, ۲۰۲۴). The productive sector's share of banking facilities during this period was only ۲۲%, with the majority of resources allocated to working capital. Directed loans divert banks' credit portfolio composition toward low-yield and high-risk assets through three main channels: reduced profitability, increased operational risk, and aggravated liquidity imbalance (Hadian, ۲۰۲۵).Conclusion: Directed loans in Iran's economy function as a "hidden fiscal policy" that transfers the cost of social support from the public budget to banks' balance sheets. Without structural reform in banks' incentive system, this mechanism leads to continued credit misallocation and deepened banking imbalance.

کلیدواژه ها:

Directed loans ، credit portfolio ، lending deviation ، Capital Adequacy ، Banking Imbalance ، hidden fiscal policy