Prabowo Baffled Experts Silent on Underinvoicing, Yet Criticise Free Meals Programme
JAKARTA – President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto has expressed puzzlement as to why large-scale economic leakage practices, such as transfer pricing and underinvoicing, receive so little public scrutiny, whilst the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme initiated by the head of state is criticised as budgetary waste.
“Feeding Indonesian children, pregnant mothers and the elderly is regarded as wasteful, yet trillions that evaporate, that leave Indonesian soil every year for 34 years, draw no comment. Not a single 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 carried out by companies to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions in order to minimise the overall tax burden of a business group. Such manipulation severely harms the state through the loss of valuable potential tax and import duty revenue.
On the other hand, Prabowo found that the government has instead faced various criticisms when implementing the MBG programme, even though its targets are schoolchildren, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.
“But when we want to feed children — when clearly at least a quarter of our children are stunted, and many do not eat at school — we are accused of waste, we are told the economy will collapse, share prices will crash, the currency will weaken,” Prabowo said.
Previously, Prabowo revealed the existence of economic leakage through various practices such as underinvoicing, falsified trade reports, transfer pricing and smuggling, which have caused Indonesia’s wealth to flow abroad. According to him, the data on these practices comes from various international institutions and was not compiled by the government.
Prabowo said the government remains convinced that the MBG programme forms part of fulfilling the constitutional mandate to improve public welfare. He stressed that the government’s economic policy is grounded in the 1945 Constitution, particularly Articles 33 and 34, which provide for an economy directed at the greatest prosperity of the people and the state’s obligation to care for the poor and abandoned children.