Absorbing 1 Million Workers, Finance Minister Says MBG Can Boost Economy by Over 1 Percent

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has stated that the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has the potential to provide a significant boost to national economic growth.

According to Purbaya, this potential primarily stems from the large-scale job creation estimated to reach around one million workers.

“I don’t know the exact calculation, but if you work it backwards, it’s feasible. MBG creates one million jobs,” Purbaya told reporters at the Ministry of Finance in Jakarta on Tuesday (7/4/2026).

Based on this data, every 1 percent economic growth generally correlates with the creation of around 450,000 jobs.

“If I’m not mistaken, the last I knew, 1 percent is about 450,000 jobs. So if it’s one million, it’s roughly more than 2 percent from MBG alone,” he said.

Nevertheless, Purbaya emphasised that the figure is a gross estimate. After accounting for workforce shifts from other sectors to the MBG programme, the net contribution is estimated to be above 1 percent.

“Net, not gross,” he stressed.

He explained that some of the workers absorbed into the MBG programme may come from other sectors, so it does not entirely create new additional jobs in the economy.

Despite this, he remains optimistic that the programme will have a sufficiently significant impact on national economic growth, especially if implemented optimally.

“There are also people who move there from other places, so that’s a deduction. But even so, it’s still significant. I think more than 1 percent impact will be visible if it’s run well,” Purbaya said.

For information, the MBG programme is one of the government’s initiatives focused on improving public nutrition quality while also stimulating economic activity through large-scale job creation.