TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) Budget Committee Chairperson Said Abdullah stated that the budget for the free nutritious meal (MBG) program will be reduced alongside a cap on the number of kitchen units or nutrition service centers (SPPG) in 2027. Said estimated that scaling down the number of MBG kitchens from 27,000 to 21,000 locations could save tens of trillions of rupiah in state funds.
"If it drops from Rp268 trillion to Rp174 trillion, the percentage of that reduction is quite high," Said remarked at the House building in Jakarta on Monday, July 6, 2026.
According to Said, the budget for President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program will not exceed Rp174 trillion next year. However, he also suggested that the MBG budget could be trimmed further during upcoming deliberations on the 2027 State Budget Bill with the government. The passage of the State Budget Bill is scheduled for September 2026.
"It will be approved in September. If it were approved now, it would not work. Should the Budget Committee be the one to approve it? It must be done together with the government," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.
Said argued that changes in the budget allocation for the MBG program should not provoke overreactions. This applies even if there is a budget cut. According to him, a funding reduction will not pose a problem as long as the management of the MBG is maintained to ensure recipients receive high-quality food.
"The MBG does not need a bombastic budget, yet when it is reduced, people ask, 'Why is it being cut?' No. What matters most is maintaining the quality," Said emphasized.
The National Nutrition Body (BGN) has yet to confirm the exact budget for the MBG in 2027. Nevertheless, an indicative budget ceiling of Rp270 trillion has already been allocated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas to cover 81.5 million beneficiaries next year.
BGN Deputy Head Agustina Arumsari stated that the figure is not final and there have been no further discussions with the two ministries. "We will continue to discuss. So, if we use the beneficiary figures set by the RPJMN (National Medium-Term Development Plan), we will then calculate the valuation," she said after a meeting with House Commission IX in Jakarta on Monday, June 15, 2026.
Arumsari added that there would be cost-efficiency measures again to ensure that the MBG program reaches the right targets. In 2026, the BGN budget had already been scaled back from Rp335 trillion to Rp268 trillion.
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa previously stated that the budget was lowered to Rp268 trillion to achieve fiscal savings. President Prabowo Subianto reportedly wants the funds designated for the MBG program to be utilized with greater efficiency.
"Do not blame the MBG again. The President is trying to optimize the management of the MBG and how the funds are spent," Purbaya said on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
As of April 30, the realized MBG budget stood at Rp75 trillion, representing 22.4 percent of the original Rp335 trillion allocation. Through this expenditure, the MBG program has reached 61.96 million beneficiaries across 27,952 Nutrition Service Units (SPPG).
M. Faiz Zaki contributed to this article
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