State Palace Hints MBG Budget Could Decrease After Governance Overhaul

Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi has spoken out about the efficiency of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme budget. He opened up the possibility that the budget will decrease following a large-scale evaluation of the MBG’s implementation. “So, if the question concerns the MBG budget, the Minister of Finance has also conveyed that there is a possibility it will decrease,” Prasetyo said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/7/2026). Prasetyo has not yet stated the exact figure for the reduction. However, he revealed the likelihood that the budget will drop after improvements to beneficiary data and incentives for MBG kitchens. “After the improvement process in the management or leadership of the National Nutrition Agency and after a data validation process, there is a possibility that the MBG budget requirement will decrease,” he said. It is known that the BGN is currently improving the implementation of the MBG. BGN Deputy Head Agustina Arumsari stated that the BGN budget will be significantly reduced after the overhaul and improvement of governance. “Automatically, the efficiency will follow. So, regarding the figure, I may not be able to mention it yet, but it is clear that it is no longer IDR 268 trillion, it has been greatly reduced. However, because the process is still ongoing, I cannot mention the figure yet,” Agustina explained at the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta on Monday (20/7). Initially, the BGN budget this year reached IDR 335 trillion, but it has been reduced to IDR 268 trillion. Approximately 93 per cent of the budget is used for the MBG programme. Agustina said the calculation of the efficiency results is still ongoing. The agency has been given one month to resolve all issues occurring in the government’s priority programme, the MBG.