The pair is currently leading the 2024 presidential election voting count wherein the recapitulation of voting results took place on February 15-March 20, 2024.
"Earlier, we were discussing the initial plan for RKP, including Prabowo's priority programs, such as free lunch," Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia remarked after attending the meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday.
According to Lahadalia, the discussion of the 2025 RKP and the 2025 State Budget must accommodate the future programs of the elected president.
Regarding the fact that the vote count of the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) related to the voting results for the 2024 Presidential Election is not yet final, Lahadalia stated that the discussion of the free lunch program in the 2025 RKP is aimed at anticipating and serving as an assumption for the 2025 State Budget.
The minister considered that the discussion of the free lunch program did not precede the KPU's voting result, as it was only an anticipatory step, a simulation, and a design.
Lahadalia claimed to not know details about whether the programs of other presidential and vice presidential candidates were also discussed at the plenary cabinet meeting.
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However, he emphasized that once President Jokowi's term of office ends in October 2024, the elected president will automatically implement programs discussed in the current plenary cabinet meeting.
In addition, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, stated that the current government was indeed discussing the priority programs for the next elected president.
Regarding the free lunch program, he highlighted that currently, the government is already collecting data on the number of pregnant women to toddlers as well as students from kindergarten, elementary, and middle school that will be used to calculate the budget for the free lunch program.
"We will see whether the (target) budget deficit (of the State Budget) of 2.4-2.8 percent is suitable for programs of the next president-elect," he remarked.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani stated that the government is focusing on the indicative ceiling and programs prioritized for the next government, in line with the results of KPU's calculation on the elected president and vice president.
According to Mulyani, the 2025 State Budget deficit target should also include priority programs of the future elected president.
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Translator: Rangga Pandu A J, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
