In a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Wednesday, he said the BGN should report on the program's budget absorption. Sadewa also committed to accompanying the agency's head in delivering the updates.
Apart from the MBG program, he stressed that other initiatives with slow budget absorption will also be reviewed. According to him, sluggish government spending is one of the key factors hindering economic growth.
To address this, Sadewa said his focus is on boosting both fiscal and monetary policies. On the fiscal side, he plans to accelerate government spending. On the monetary side, he intends to withdraw government funds from Bank Indonesia (BI) to inject liquidity into banks, with the expectation that banks will channel the funds to support economic activity.
The MBG program, launched on January 6 as one of President Prabowo Subianto's flagship initiatives, aims to improve nutrition for children under five, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and schoolchildren up to the high school level.
As of August 11, the MBG budget absorption had only reached Rp8.2 trillion (around US$500 million), while the 2025 allocation amounts to Rp71 trillion. Prabowo has pledged to continue the program with an allocation of Rp335 trillion in the 2026 draft state budget.
The government expects the MBG program to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries nationwide, making it one of the largest social initiatives in Indonesia's history.
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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