People's Savings Trends Are Predicted To Be Difficult To Increase Due To 12 Percent VAT Increase

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) Purbaya Yudhi Sadive stated that the trend of public savings, especially in the savings segment below Rp. 100 million, has the potential to find it difficult to experience a significant increase, especially with the policy of increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) to 12 percent by 2025.

"It seems that when the signal is purchasing power, it is suspected that it will decrease, the tax increase policy is not very accurate. But I don't know, maybe the government still needs money to patch the budget, maybe it's also good if the money is directly used for programs that are useful to the community as well," he said after the LPS Morning Talk, Tuesday 17 December.

Purbaya explained that when people's funds enter the government, it takes time to return to the economic system, namely through spending, so that if new funds are spent four months later, the impact on the economy will be delayed.

"What is clear is that if money goes to the government, it doesn't go directly into the system. Well, let's say 4 months in the government before it is spent, the impact is 4 months or more late, right? Yes, at least in the long term it will affect the savings trend. Even now, without that, I think, if you look at the LPS survey, it looks like it will be difficult to go up," he explained.

According to Purbaya, the trend of savings will not immediately decrease due to the policy of increasing VAT of 12 percent, but the potential increase will be more difficult.

"Not yet, not falling, but I see it is difficult to go up hard," he said.

Meanwhile, Purbaya predicts that the growth of banking Third Party Funds (DPK) is still at 6 percent to 7 percent, and until now, his party has not seen the significant impact of government policies on the economy or DPK.

"We predict that our DPK will be 6-7 percent, until now we have not changed it. But of course it will be adaptive depending on developments from time to time," he said.

Purbaya stated that the negative impact of tax policies on savings and DPK will likely not be felt in the short term, as long as government funds are spent properly to encourage economic growth.

"If there was, maybe I said earlier, in the short term in a year it might not be visible if the money was spent well and we managed to reverse the direction of economic growth," he concluded.