Prabowo Convenes Cabinet Ministers at Hambalang for Food Security and Energy Self-Sufficiency Discussions

President Prabowo Subianto held a meeting with several ministers from his Red and White Cabinet at Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Monday 9 March.

The meeting was attended by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, and Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono. Also present were Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid, Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Brian Yuliarto, Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy, via an Instagram post on the secretariat’s account on Monday 9 March, indicated that the meeting addressed two main agendas. First, it focused on self-sufficiency developments in Indonesia, evaluating progress on food and energy self-sufficiency programmes as well as oil self-sufficiency. Second, it examined preparations for Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah.

“Ensuring the availability of food supplies and LPG provisions ahead of Eid al-Fitr,” Teddy stated in a post on the cabinet secretariat’s Instagram account on Monday 9 March.

This meeting was part of a series of internal meetings conducted in marathon fashion by Prabowo over recent days. Prabowo had previously held a series of meetings with several ministers at Hambalang on Sunday 8 March. Cabinet Secretary Teddy explained that Prabowo led five separate meetings from afternoon into the evening.

Those meetings were attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Brian Yuliarto, Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Deputy Defence Minister Donny Ermawan, Rector of the Defence University Anton Nugroho, and Chief Executive Director of PT Pindad Sigit Santosa.

Teddy noted that one of the topics discussed concerned the government’s preparedness to handle the Lebaran exodus, which is expected to intensify in the coming weeks. “Security readiness and smooth traffic flow ahead of the ten days leading to Eid al-Fitr,” Teddy stated in his remarks.

The discussions also covered developments in the international geopolitical situation, particularly dynamics in the Middle East region. “Developments in the Middle East situation linked to geopolitical escalation in Indonesia,” he said.

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East has triggered impacts on the global economy as world oil prices have surged. Recently, the rupiah exchange rate officially broke through 17,000 to the dollar in trading on Monday 9 March.

Bhima Yudhistira, Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), warned that the surge in global oil prices has the potential to pressure the State Budget and Expenditure (APBN) by hundreds of trillions of rupiah. He estimated that the budget deficit could widen to 314 trillion rupiah if global oil prices continue to rise.

“The surge in oil prices causes the worst fiscal pressure ‘Armageddon’ since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bhima told CNNIndonesia.com on Saturday 7 March.