July 2026 Inflation Rises, BPS Says Impact of Free Nutritious Meals Programme Requires Further Study

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has stated that the impact of the resumption of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme and the new school year on food inflation in July 2026 still requires more in-depth study. Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics Ateng Hartono said BPS cannot yet directly conclude whether these two factors have put pressure on inflation.

“To find out whether the new school year period and the resumption of the MBG programme in July 2026 had an effect on inflation, a special study is certainly needed,” Ateng said during a BPS press conference in Jakarta on Monday (3/8/2026).

Ateng assessed that a specific analysis is necessary to ascertain the relationship between the implementation of the MBG programme and food inflation developments. According to him, the influence of the programme cannot be directly inferred from the existing monthly inflation data.

Nevertheless, Ateng explained that several commodities within the food, beverages, and tobacco group experienced monthly inflation in July 2026 and contributed to the headline inflation. These commodities include rice, garlic, and cucumber.

“In general, it can be said that there are several commodities in the food, beverages, and tobacco group that experienced inflation and contributed to the monthly inflation in July 2026,” Ateng stated.

Ateng detailed that rice experienced inflation of 0.49 per cent with a 0.02 per cent contribution to inflation. Meanwhile, garlic recorded inflation of 3.33 per cent and contributed 0.01 per cent to inflation.

Furthermore, he said cucumber was one of the commodities that experienced a fairly high price increase in July 2026. According to Ateng, cucumber inflation reached 17.44 per cent, although its contribution to headline inflation remained limited.

“Cucumber experienced quite significant inflation in July 2026 at 17.44 per cent and contributed 0.01 per cent to inflation,” Ateng said.