Indef: Lebaran Becomes The Savior Of The Economy In Quarter II/2022

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Director of Indef, Eko Listyo said, economic growth in the second quarter of 2022 which reached 5.44 percent on an annual basis or year on year (YoY) could not be separated from the momentum of Eid al-Fitr or Lebaran.

Moreover, said Eko, after two years of banning Lebaran homecoming, this year the government has again allowed going home.

In fact, continued Eko, the government has also provided easing by extending the Eid holiday to 2 weeks.

The number of homecomers also increased higher than in 2019.

"So it can be said that Lebaran is the savior of the economy in the second quarter of 2022. I think it has positive implications for encouraging public consumption. And this is clearly illustrated by the increase in consumption which reached 5.51 percent in the second quarter on a YoY basis compared to the second quarter of 2021", he said in an online discussion, Sunday, August 7.

In terms of consumption growth, Eko said, in the first quarter of 2022 it was only 4.3 percent. Meanwhile, in the second quarter of 2022, it increased to 5.51 percent.

"If it (up) 5.51 percent, then there is indeed an acceleration in public consumption, especially household consumption", he explained.

Furthermore, Eko said, from a sectoral perspective, it is very clear that Lebaran is the savior of the economy.

Among other things, it can be seen from the acceleration of transportation and warehousing performance which was able to grow by 21.27 percent.

"I think this is also a very big growth. So that then pushes from a sectoral perspective the contribution of the transportation and warehousing sector which is actually the stimulant because of Lebaran", he explained.

On the other hand, Eko said the challenges ahead will be tough. This is because the momentum for the celebration of religious holidays does not exist in the third quarter of 2022.

Thus, he predicts that growth in the quarter will be much lower than in the second quarter of 2022.

"Well, this luxury did not exist in the third quarter of 2022. We said that if we could maintain 5.44 percent, in my opinion, it would be very good. If it can be maintained. The size of Lebaran or Christmas is also not available in the second quarter", he said.