Prabowo Signals Cuts to TNI-Polri Budgets to Eradicate Poverty

President Prabowo Subianto has signalled potential budget cuts for the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) as part of efforts to eliminate poverty. Prabowo floated the idea of budget efficiency within the two institutions during a speech at a TNI mass harvest event in Malang, East Java, today.

Prabowo initially expressed his desire to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty in the country. “We will save the budget, we will make it efficient. If necessary, we will reduce the defence and police budgets to eliminate poverty,” Prabowo said on Friday, 17 July 2026, as broadcast live on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.

Present at the event were TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto, Deputy TNI Commander General Tandyo Budi Revita, Army Chief of Staff General Maruli Simanjuntak, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Muhammad Ali, and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo. Prabowo directly questioned the readiness of the TNI and Polri leadership to accept budget cuts, asking, “Is the TNI willing? Is the police willing?”

Prabowo stressed that the nation’s best defence is a strong and prosperous populace. His remarks stand in stark contrast to the current budget discussions for 2027 in the House of Representatives, where the indicative ceiling for the police is set to increase, with the institution proposing an additional Rp 66.1 trillion. Similarly, the indicative budget for the Ministry of Defence, which includes TNI funding, is set at Rp 139 trillion, with a proposed additional increase of Rp 195 trillion for the coming year.