Purbaya to Follow President Prabowo's Lead on Free Nutritious Meal Efficiency
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has stated he is aware of the planned efficiency or budget reduction for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. However, its implementation will follow the direction of President Prabowo Subianto. The state treasurer has not yet disclosed the extent of the budget reduction for the nutritious meal programme. “We will follow the President’s decision,” he said after a meeting at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Thursday, 11 June 2026.
The efficiency plan for the programme, which consumes substantial funds, resurfaced after Head of the National Nutrition Agency Nanik S. Deyang answered a summons from Prabowo to the Presidential Palace on Thursday, 11 June 2026. Nanik said her visit to the palace was to report to the head of state. “Budget efficiency, good news. Let it decrease, let it decrease, efficiency,” she said.
After the 30-minute meeting, Nanik stated the efficiency plan was welcomed by President Prabowo. One of the efforts to be undertaken is an adjustment of MBG beneficiaries, with distribution to children from affluent families to be evaluated.
Meanwhile, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi revealed the possibility of reducing the budget requirements for MBG. However, he emphasised this does not mean a cut in the MBG fund allocation. “It is not a cut, yes. But from the calculation results, we believe there will be a reduction in the budget requirements for this free nutritious meal programme,” he said.
This year, the government set an allocation of Rp 335 trillion for President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programme, which was reduced to Rp 268 trillion. The Ministry of Finance reported that as of 31 May 2026, the realised use of the budget for the MBG programme had reached Rp 88.15 trillion. This figure increased by 17.5 per cent from the previous month’s realisation of Rp 75 trillion.
The distribution of free nutritious meals up to the end of May 2026 has reached 63.13 million recipients, consisting of 48.9 million students and 14.3 million non-students. This number of MBG recipients increased slightly compared to April, which recorded 62 million. Meanwhile, the number of kitchens, or Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), as of the end of May was 29,670 SPPG.