October 14, 2025 | 08:46 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Ministry of Finance noted that there are three ministries/agencies with budget absorption below 50 percent as of September 30, 2025. The three ministries/agencies are the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the Ministry of Public Works, and the Ministry of Agriculture.
"Several ministries/agencies with large budgets are still at below 50 percent," said Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara in a press conference on the State Budget at the Ministry of Finance office on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. Based on Suahasil's presentation, BGN has the lowest absorption at Rp19.7 trillion (16.9 percent) of the Rp116.6 trillion outlook.
Next, the absorption of the Ministry of Agriculture's budget has only reached Rp9 trillion (32.8 percent) of the Rp27.3 trillion outlook. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works has only absorbed Rp41.3 trillion (48.2 percent) of the Rp85.7 trillion budget.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance is requesting that ministries and agencies optimize their expenditures. First, ministries and agencies should accelerate the implementation of activities and projects, including the procurement of goods and services. Second, they should monitor the planned use of funds and encourage the timely payment of activity milestones.
Third, conducting an inventory of constraints for mitigation. "We need to spend within the right quota, but we also continue to encourage spending efficiency in every ministry and agency," said Suahasil.
According to Suahasil, the government still needs to achieve spending of Rp1,292.7 trillion during the remaining fiscal year of 2025. As of the end of September 2025, central government spending reached Rp1,589.9 trillion, which is 59.7 percent of the projected Rp2,663.4 trillion. Central government spending consists of ministry/agency spending of Rp800.9 trillion (62.8 percent of the outlook) and non-ministry/agency spending of Rp789 trillion (56.8 percent of the outlook).
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that his ministry will focus on monitoring the absorption of BGN's Rp71 trillion budget. "The program (Free Nutritious Meals) is good, and we should push for better absorption. It's already October, I will look into this until the end of October," said Purbaya when approached by the media at the Ministry of Finance office on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Separately, the Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, stated that the absorption rate of BGN's budget reflects the number of beneficiaries served through the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) throughout Indonesia. BGN aims to reach 82.9 million people by the end of the year.
"Absorption at BGN is synonymous with the number of beneficiaries and the number of active SPPGs (Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units). For every SPPG that stands, it means that Rp1 billion per month is absorbed," said Dadan when asked for confirmation on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Dinda Shabrina contributed to the writing of this article
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