Jusuf Kalla: Improvements to Free Nutritious Meals Programme Right for Economic Headwinds

Former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has praised the government’s move to improve the management of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, calling it a correct step to ease the state budget burden during current economic dynamics. “The MBG budget has been cut, that is good,” Kalla said during a Public Seminar on Economic Policy and Crisis Management monitored online from Jakarta on Tuesday. According to Kalla, the governance reform of the MBG initiative is one of several measures the government can take to reduce fiscal strain. Other steps he outlined include cutting budgets for cooperatives, reducing fuel subsidies, and trimming defence equipment spending. By lightening the fiscal load, Kalla believes the government can bolster public confidence in the Indonesian economy, particularly by restoring trust in the rupiah. “An economic crisis is related to fiscal matters. Fiscal refers to money, budgets, and so on. So, to address an economic crisis, expenditure must be lowered and revenue increased,” Kalla stated. He therefore welcomed the government’s efforts to ease the fiscal burden by improving the MBG’s governance, noting that President Prabowo Subianto has acknowledged the need to reduce costs in that area. Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, confirmed that the overhaul of the 2026 MBG programme will begin with optimising budget efficiency. Nanik said the programme will now be focused on disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost regions, as well as on pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers, in line with the President’s directives. Consequently, the BGN has issued a circular stating that Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) not serving these target groups will be suspended. For the construction of SPPGs in the priority regions, the agency will explore alternative implementation schemes to avoid burdening the state budget. Following an internal consolidation, Nanik said the BGN has prepared a work plan focused on budget efficiency without reducing the number of beneficiaries or the quality of the meals. The designated budget for the MBG programme in 2026 is set at Rp268 trillion. “In the context of budget efficiency, what we are doing is, first, refocusing beneficiaries; second, a moratorium on new kitchen points; and third, overhauling existing operational kitchens to meet standards for producing high-quality food, including improvements and training for human resources,” she explained.