Purbaya Caught Off Guard on Electric Scooter Budget for SPPG MBG

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa estimated that the budget for the new electric scooter procurement by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for the SPPG implementers of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, which went viral, occurred before he took office. As is known, Purbaya has served as Finance Minister since 8 September 2025, replacing Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who had held the position of state treasurer for a decade. “It might have been submitted before I became minister, so I didn’t know,” Purbaya said at his office in Jakarta on Thursday (9/4/2026). Therefore, Purbaya felt caught off guard that the budget was still partially realised. However, he claimed to have rejected the use of the budget for purchasing operational scooters for the SPPG Head. “Last year, there was probably a miscommunication from my subordinates to me; as I recall, I asked and it had been rejected. But apparently, part of it had already slipped through,” he stressed. Nevertheless, he assured that for this year’s budget implementation, the Ministry of Finance under his leadership has blocked submissions for budgets not directly related to priority programmes. “So this year, there will be no more purchases,” Purbaya revealed while emphasising again that “in the future, there will be no more” such departmental budgets. The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, previously explained that the new electric scooters were already designed into the 2025 budget to support the operations of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) Programme. The electric scooters will be used to support the mobility of the Head of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG). “The procurement of electric scooters was planned in the 2025 budget as part of the operational support for the MBG Programme, specifically to support the mobility of the Head of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit,” Dadan said in his statement, quoted on Thursday (9/4/2026). He said that although it was included in the 2025 budget, the procurement was only realised in 2026 following government administrative and financial mechanisms. “At the end of 2025, the Commitment Making Official (PPK) had submitted the Payment Order Document (SPM), so the budget entered the End-of-Year Budget Holding Account (RPATA). This mechanism complies with Minister of Finance Regulation 84 of 2025, where payments are made in two stages: the first instalment upon completion of 60% of the units and the second for completion up to 100% of the units,” he explained. In its implementation, the procurement was not fully realised according to the initial plan. Up to the deadline on 20 March 2026, the supplier was only able to fulfil part of the contract. “Up to the end of the extension period on 20 March 2026, the supplier was only able to complete 85.01% or 21,801 units out of the 25,644 units contracted. The remaining funds that had been held were returned to the state treasury with the cancellation of the RPATA along with the second stage payment,” he said. In total, the procurement realisation reached 21,801 units from the initial target of 25,644 units. The BGN also clarified the circulating information regarding the number of vehicles. Dadan also emphasised that reports claiming the number of scooters reached 70,000 units were untrue. In addition, the BGN stressed the use of domestic products in the procurement. The purchased electric scooters have a Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of 48.5% and are produced in Citeureup, West Java. “This is part of our efforts not only to support programme operations but also to encourage the national industry through the use of domestic products with significant TKDN,” Dadan said.