Prabowo Baffled Experts Silent on Underinvoicing, Yet Criticise Free Meals Programme

President Prabowo Subianto has questioned why large-scale economic leakages, such as transfer pricing and underinvoicing, attract minimal public attention, while the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme he initiated is criticised as a waste of budget. “Feeding Indonesian children, pregnant women, and the elderly is considered wasteful, but thousands of trillions that evaporate, that leave Indonesian soil every year for 34 years, draw no comment. No expert protests,” Prabowo said during a briefing at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Monday (20/7/2026). Transfer pricing and underinvoicing are practices used by companies to shift profits to low-tax countries in order to minimise the overall tax burden of a business group. Such manipulation significantly harms the state through the loss of potential tax revenue and import duties. Prabowo noted that the government instead faces various criticisms when implementing the MBG programme, even though its targets are schoolchildren, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups. “But we want to feed children, when clearly at least a quarter of our children are stunted. Many also do not eat at school. We are accused of wastefulness, told the economy will collapse, share prices will plummet, and the currency will weaken,” Prabowo said. He previously revealed economic leakages through practices such as underinvoicing, trade report falsification, transfer pricing, and smuggling, which cause Indonesia’s wealth to flow abroad. According to him, data on these practices comes from various international institutions and was not compiled by the government. Prabowo stressed that the government remains convinced the MBG programme is part of fulfilling the constitutional mandate to improve public welfare. He affirmed that the government’s economic policies are based on the 1945 Constitution, particularly Articles 33 and 34, which stipulate that the economy shall be organised for the greatest prosperity of the people and that the state is responsible for caring for the poor and abandoned children.