Arabs need to learn habit of saving from Japanese

Haider Al Lawati –
haiderdawood@hotmail.com –

Although the Japanese government’s debt is huge, the phenomenon of personal loans through credit cards does not exist there. This is not the case with us in the Gulf and Arab countries.

Although the Japanese are influenced by the Western culture in some aspects of economic and social life, the Japanese society still clings to a lot of habits inherited from the past. One of these is their interest in saving from younger age, as the per capita income in Japan is high. In 2013, it was $36,899, according to IMF data.
Thus, Japan stood 18th globally in the list of countries rated by per capita GDP. The Sultanate was ranked 28th in the world with per capita GDP of $29,813 according to the same data.
Savings today is considered one of the most important issues on which the community and family activities rely. It is also an important means of achieving development.
At the same time, the subject of savings is advocated by religions and different sects and beliefs, including Islam. It is also advocated by international organisations which call on community members to save resources as one of the important channels to spend on development issues in the community.Today, there are lot of countries and people who have succeeded in educating their citizens about the importance of saving from younger age including the Japanese government.
We refer here to the Japanese experience regarding saving. They are among the few who adopt this method to benefit from the saved resources in the economic development processes or entertainment or tourism.
This is what made Japan one of the most creditor countries because of the enormous savings it collects through export of its products and the amounts collected from household savings.
Although the Japanese government’s debt is huge, the phenomenon of personal loans through credit cards does not exist there. This is not the case with us in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and most Arab states.
Homes or property mortgages, as sometimes found in our region and Western countries, including the USA, do not exist there. Consequently, we believe it is necessary to call upon people in the region to move away from the culture of loans, spending and mass consumption.
We should urge people to desist from applying the saying which goes “Spend what is in the packet, you get the unseen.”
People should learn the true meaning of saving, especially the saving of money, and spend it in the right manner is engrained in Islamic principles. Ethics also demand it.
All should stay away from waste and extravagance which we see is in many areas of economic and social life in the Gulf and Arab countries.
Currently many countries in the world are suffering from hunger, illiteracy and lack of food and water.
We believe that the ideals and traditions of Japanese are somewhat similar to what Islam calls for. Specifically, the need to save for difficult days.
In the Japanese experience, we see that savings play a major role in financing the government’s budget deficit. That is because of the accumulation of domestic savings of the Japanese people, which will continue to grow even in difficult days. Savings in Japan as a creditor country played a major role in helping the United States, Britain and other countries in the world.
Japanese savings contributed in tiding over certain difficult circumstances by these countries who experienced economic crisis as a result of accumulation of debt. This effort led to the spread of Japanese foreign investments in many countries, thus helping in global economic recovery.
This is how China and Taiwan are also acting at the moment.
By making use of savings collected both at the level of individuals, institutions or at the state level, there they increased demand for the products of these countries and increasing their dollar balances in savings once again.
The ethics of the Japanese people is that they like simplicity and minimalism and avoid waste and extravagance. These are also of the Islamic principles. They, however, take good care of their food, education, entertainment and travel. They also follow the advice that emphasises the efficiency of energy and water consumption.
Japan has been known for a long time by having the highest savings among industrialised countries.
Japanese families in the early eighties of the twentieth century spare about 15 per cent of their income after tax.
However, the savings rate fell gradually during the eighties and remained still at a level of 10 per cent in the nineties.

/Oman Daily Observer.