Free Nutritious Meal Budget to Be Cut Again, Palace Says Funding Needs Could Drop Below IDR 268 Trillion

The government has sent a strong signal that the budget requirements for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme could potentially decrease from the previously established ceiling of Rp268 trillion.

These savings are expected to emerge after the government completes a thorough restructuring of the programme’s governance, which is currently underway. Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi emphasised that the government is not discussing direct budget cuts; however, preliminary evaluation results indicate that the actual programme requirements are likely to be lower than previous projections.

“It is not a cut, per se, but based on our calculations, we believe there will be a reduction in the budget requirements for this free nutritious meal programme,” said Praselyo Hadi at the Graha Mandiri Building, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, 11 June 2026.

According to Prasetyo, the government is currently conducting a recalculation alongside the Ministry of Finance and the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to obtain more accurate budget requirements once the programme restructuring process is finalised.

“That is why we are requesting time to calculate this with the Ministry of Finance and the BGN,” he added. “Therefore, from the restructuring process, we will be able to calculate more precisely what the total budget required for this nutritious meal programme will be.”

When asked whether this evaluation also includes operational incentives received by MBG kitchens, Prasetyo confirmed that all cost components will be included in the recalculation process.

“Everything, everything, everything,” he stated.

This evaluation step follows the government’s previous reduction of the MBG budget ceiling to Rp268 trillion from an initial allocation of Rp335 trillion. This adjustment was made following directives from President Prabowo Subianto to ensure the programme’s implementation is more effective and efficient.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa previously revealed that the government still maintains room for further savings within the programme, which remains one of the primary priorities of the Prabowo administration.

Amidst the evaluation process, the government aims to complete the restructuring of the MBG governance within approximately one month.

“Our initial target is that this must be completed within this month. But, of course, there will be dynamics involved,” said Prasetyo.