JAKARTA: Indonesia has further reduced its budget for President Prabowo Subianto's signature free school meals programme to 229 trillion rupiah (US$12.81 billion) from 268 trillion rupiah and more cuts are possible, senior officials running the project said on Tuesday (July 21).
The programme is Prabowo most important and expensive election campaign pledge and has been central to wider concerns about Indonesia's fiscal health.
Originally, it was allotted 335 trillion rupiah in 2026 with a target by the end of the year of reaching 83 million recipients - roughly 30% of the population - consisting of students and pregnant women. But that budget has been gradually reduced in an effort to boost efficiency.
Reuters last month reported that the National Nutrition Agency, which runs the project, was targeting a budget cut of more than $2 billion, with reductions in the number of beneficiaries and kitchen operators.
Prabowo has given the agency a month to come up with the final budget figure following an internal review, its secretary Lili Khamiliyah told a press conference, adding the 229 trillion rupiah cited was a provisional figure, with further room for efficiency measures.
"There will be reduction in the number of beneficiaries. The president no longer targets a certain number, but he wants improvement in quality so that there is no more food poisoning," Agustina Arumsari, deputy head of the NNA, said.
Before the review, the agency said meals had reached 62.5 million people. The programme, which started in January 2025, has been dogged by problems, including logistical challenges, concerns about nutrition and several instances of mass food poisoning.
Adding to the controversy, graft investigators last month arrested the nutrition agency's former chief and two other officials following corruption allegations. - Reuters
