Eid Al-Fitr holidays have the potential to increase the circulation of money, which predicted to reach tens of trillions, and may well drive national economic growth. However, the threat of counterfeit bills still continues to exist.
Sarman Simanjorang, Deputy Chairperson of the DKI Jakarta Kadin for Regional Autonomy Development said that the circulation of money during Eid 2023 reached up to IDR 92.3 trillion (US$ 6,184,090,770), calculated by the number of 123.8 million potential travelers, which equals to 30,752,000 families. The number was calculated assuming each family brings at least IDR 3 million; with a higher nominal probability per family.
“The circulation of money will spread to the land, sea and air transportation business sector. Then the culinary sector in the regions,” said Simanjorang on April 17, 2023.
Simanjorang explained that money circulation will still be dominated by Java with a percentage reaching up to 62.5%, and the number of travelers reaching 77.3 million people or the equivalent of 19,325,000 families. Meanwhile, the rest of the circulation will spread to other areas outside Java.
“With such a large turnover potential, it is certain that the regional economy will be productive and vibrant,” said Simanjorang.
The high number of circulation will have an impact on increasing household consumption, and contribute to the magnitude of national and regional economic growth. That way, he hopes that the Q1 2023 economic growth target of 5 percent can be achieved.
This increase can be reflected in the increase in Regional Original Income (PAD) which comes from hotel, restaurant, cafes, and user fees including tourist destinations, among others. Simanjorang hoped that the local government can ensure that entrepreneurs in the destination area do not raise high prices so that travelers are not reluctant to spend their money.
“We hope that the entrance fees for tourist sites, hotel rates, food and beverage prices will not increase which will burden consumers. Business actors in the homecoming destination must create memorable and enjoyable services,” said Simanjorang.
Meanwhile Pieter Abdullah Redjalam, Economist and Director of the Segara Institute, said that Indonesia’s growth projection in 2023 is between 4.75% to 5.25%.
“That has taken into account the impact of Eid. There is already a contribution from Eid,” said Redjalam on April 17, 2023.
Counterfeit risks
However, it is necessary to watch out for counterfeit money which is often rampant during the Eid season, said Bank Indonesia (BI). The most counterfeited denomination is the IDR 100,000 denomination. However, there is no exact total value of how many counterfeit money is in circulation.
According to the BI Aceh Representative, a total of 298 counterfeit notes were found from early 2022 to April 2023. “The counterfeit money found in Aceh is not as many as in other provinces, but the number is in the hundreds as well,” said Ali Yamin, Head of the Operational Unit for Rupiah Currency Management (PUR) BI on April 12, 2023.
Currently, banks still fail to detect the authenticity of money because they are still counting money manually. Yamin said that the mode of counterfeiting is quite sophisticated. Even one bill can be made so that one side is real, and the other fake to pass cash transactions.
