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ENPASAR: Only 2.23 percent of all bank loans in Bali in the first half of this year were low non-performing loans, a banker says.

“The rate is quite low, meaning that the banking industry is quite healthy. In other provinces, the average rates of non-performing loans reach around 5 percent,” Jeffry Kairupan, the head of the Bali branch of Bank Indonesia, said.

He said the rate had to be kept as low as possible, adding that normally, the economy of Bali experienced a slowdown in the first quarter of the year.

“However, this year, the economy is good,” Kairupan said.

Bali’s 45 national, local and international banks issued Rp 26.23 trillion (US$3.07 billion) in loans in the first half of the year.