Indonesia's Nutrition Agency to Revise Proposed Rp270 Trillion Meal Program Budget

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has deemed the proposed budget of Rp270 trillion for the "Free Nutritious Meal" (MBG) program in 2027 as excessively large. The agency intends to conduct a thorough review of the budget to formulate a more efficient spending plan.

Agustina Arumsari, Deputy Head of BGN, stated that the Rp270 trillion figure, discussed with the House of Representatives (DPR) recently, was proposed by the previous BGN leadership. This amount was based on an assumption that the MBG program would serve approximately 81 million beneficiaries in 2027. "Last year in the DPR, it was a discussion of the indicative ceiling proposed by Pak Dadan (former BGN Head Dadan Hindayana) and his colleagues, then formalized, there was a letter from the Ministry of Finance to us to prepare a further allocation ceiling at Rp270 trillion based on an assumption of 81 million beneficiaries. Well, we consider that the budget itself is still too large," Arumsari explained during a press conference at the BGN office on Thursday (18/6/2026).

Arumsari believes the proposed figure is far too high to implement the MBG program next year and significantly exceeds the targets outlined in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). Consequently, BGN plans to engage in further discussions with the Ministry of Finance, with meetings scheduled for Friday (19/6/2026) and the following week.

The previous administration's proposal, which aimed to serve a vast number of beneficiaries, is now being re-evaluated by the current leadership. BGN's objective is to align the budget with realistic implementation capabilities and national development plans, ensuring efficient use of public funds for the crucial nutrition program.