Prabowo Guarantees Free Nutritious Meals Programme Funds Will Not Be Cut
President Prabowo Subianto has stated that he will not reduce the budget allocation for his flagship programme, the free nutritious meals (MBG) initiative. Prabowo reaffirmed this position during an exclusive interview with international media outlet Bloomberg at his residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, over the past weekend.
In the interview, Prabowo responded to the possibility of budget savings through cuts to the MBG programme, which had previously been suggested by Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. “I will not touch the free meals programme,” Prabowo stated, according to Bloomberg’s report.
The head of state acknowledged that Minister Purbaya, in his capacity as state treasurer, has a duty to maintain a conservative stance regarding the management of the state budget and expenditure (APBN). He expressed no objection to Purbaya’s efforts to scrutinise budgets as a cost-saving measure. However, the real problem, he suggested, would be if the state treasurer were to adopt an excessively lenient approach to budget management.
“But I am confident, as I have stated, we are spending money that would otherwise be lost to corruption,” Prabowo said.
The general chairman of the Gerindra Party affirmed that the funds allocated for the MBG programme derive from cost-saving measures already implemented by his administration. Prabowo claimed that during his first few months as President, he has successfully “recovered” approximately Rp 308 trillion (equivalent to US$18 billion) in government expenditure.
According to him, these savings were achieved through scrutinising individual budget line items. “Reducing wastage, reducing inefficiency. And I am confident this will directly lead to combating corruption,” he stated.
Prabowo also acknowledged that his decision to cut government spending has faced considerable opposition. Nevertheless, he remained steadfast that the savings would be used to finance the free meals programme.
“There has been considerable debate. So I am using all this money for my free meals programme, amongst other things. And I am confident there is much more money that has been hidden and wasted,” Prabowo said.