Indonesia to allocate $4B for free school meals

By VNA June 25, 2024 | 04:42 pm PT

Students in Sorong City, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Unsplash/Syahrul Alamsyah Wahid

The Indonesian government and President-Elect Prabowo Subianto have agreed to allocate 71 trillion IDR (US$4 billion) for a free school lunch program in the 2025 state budget.

As reported by the country’s national news agency Antara, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday that Prabowo agreed on the gradual implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program. The budget for it has been included in the 2025 state budget draft agreed upon in the discussion of the Macroeconomic Framework and Fiscal Policy Principles (KEM-PPKF).

On the same occasion, a member of the Finance Sector of the Prabowo-Gibran Government Synchronization Task Force Team, Thomas Djiwandono, stated that the budget allocation had been agreed upon by the current and future governments.

Prabowo Subianto is set to take office in October this year, succeeding President Joko Widodo.