Bahrain registered a solid growth in its home loans during the first half which soared to BD702 million ($1.86 billion) from BD355.4 million a year ago, according to a report.

The Kingdom's mortgage lending doubled in the six months through June as the government boosted its efforts to get more people to buy their own homes, said a report in the Gulf News.

Economic growth slowed to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter from 5.9 per cent in the first as income from hydrocarbons declined 9.8 percent, the report said citing the Kingdom's Central Bank data.