Jakarta – The government continues to demonstrate its strong commitment to strengthening basic services for the public, one of which is through the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG). This program is designed as part of the national effort to address the nutritional problems of school children, reduce stunting, and improve the quality of human resources from an early age.
Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, suggested that the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG), which currently functions as a provider of nutritious meals, should source raw materials from local vegetable farmers, egg farmers, and food SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in the surrounding area. This step is expected to create a mutually supportive local ecosystem.
“By supporting the purchase of local raw materials from farmers and SMEs around the SPPG, the economic benefits of the MBG program will be expanded and directly felt by the surrounding community. This will create a supportive ecosystem, which will ultimately strengthen the local economy,” Luhut said.
Although it has a noble purpose, the implementation of this program requires substantial budget support from the government. Even in the initial phase, the allocated budget has reached tens of trillions of rupiah.
This budget is expected to continue to increase as the coverage area expands, the number of beneficiaries grows, and efforts to improve the quality of the food provided are ramped up.
The surge in budget absorption for the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) from June to December 2025 is in line with the ambitious target set by President Prabowo Subianto, which is to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries across Indonesia.
Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, during a working meeting with Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), explained that the large budget requirement is a natural consequence of the vast scale of the program.
“So, if it’s currently at Rp 71 trillion, an additional Rp 50 trillion will be enough to serve all beneficiaries until December 2025,” Dadan explained.
This statement aligns with the consistent increase in budget absorption from month to month. Furthermore, if the additional Rp 50 trillion mentioned by Dadan is indeed allocated by the end of the year, it shows that the government’s fiscal strategy is aggressive but still carefully calculated.
The performance of the program also becomes more measurable as the data-based reporting and monitoring systems are strengthened. With an effectively managed budget foundation, the MBG program is expected to continue growing and reaching more targets in the coming years. The success of increasing budget absorption also serves as an important lesson for other social assistance programs and community-based interventions.
