Indonesia's Purbaya Mulls Reallocating Unspent Free Nutritious Meal Budget

1 week ago 19

February 6, 2026 | 09:30 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa floated the possibility of reallocating free nutritious meal budget in 2026. This year, the government earmarked Rp335 trillion for the flagship social program, up from last year's Rp71 trillion budget.

Purbaya cast doubts on whether the budget will be fully absorbed. "We will see which is more efficient. We can channel the fund elsewhere if possible," he said on Thursday in Tangerang, adding that twice the 2025 budget still doesn't amount to Rp300 trillion.

The minister said the measure is taken without neglecting optimal implementation of Prabowo Subianto's flagship program. "We do not intend to hinder the free nutritious meal program, but to push towards greater efficiency."

Next week, the minister said he will start conducting a thorough point-by-point review of the structure of existing programs, albeit stopping short of explaining more details about how frequent the review will be.

Previously, the Ministry of Finance reported that the free meal program only spent Rp51.5 trillion, or 72.5 percent of the total allotted funding. "The direct benefit received by the public is Rp43.3 trillion from the budget realization as of December 31, 2025, amounting to Rp51.5 trillion," said Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Djiwandono in the APBN Kita press conference last month.

Thomas said that the program has served 56.13 million people as of January 7, 2026. Meanwhile, the number of Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) had reached 19,343, with a total of 789,319 employees.

In 2026, the free nutritious meal program will absorb a whopping budget of Rp335 trillion, including a reserve fund of Rp67 trillion. The government targets the number of program beneficiaries to reach 82.9 million this year.

Anastasya Lavenia contributed to the writing of this article

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