Purbaya Supports Reduction in MBG Operational Days for Efficiency

The government plans to reduce the operational days of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme from six to five days per week, namely Monday to Friday, as part of efforts to optimise the budget. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa supports this. He emphasised that as long as the policy creates efficiency without reducing the programme’s quality, it poses no issue. “They are adjusting to the developments in the situation. So there should be no problem,” he stated in Jakarta on Friday (27/3). The Finance Minister also stressed that the MBG programme’s budget will not be cut; instead, internal efficiency will be implemented by the programme’s executor, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The government, he said, will only monitor budget usage to ensure it remains effective and on target. “As long as there is efficiency, I agree,” stated the state treasurer. Besides the MBG programme, the government is also preparing efficiency measures in various spending positions across ministries and agencies. This effort is part of the next stage of budget restructuring package to cover potential budget shortfalls. “In other places, across all ministries, there is efficiency. There are stages that we have designed to cover the existing budget shortfall,” said Purbaya. Nevertheless, Purbaya has not detailed the total amount of efficiency to be implemented. The government is still calculating the needs as well as the available room for savings.