Indonesia to Separate Nutritious Meal Budget by 2028 After Court Ruling

Indonesia's government plans to separate the budget for its "nutritious meal program" (MBG) from education funds by 2028, aligning with a Constitutional Court ruling. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa indicated that integrating this change into the 2027 state budget discussions would be too complicated.

"If it's 2028, then it's 2028. Because perhaps the Court also calculated that this has been discussed, just needs finalization. If everything changes, it won't be in time," Sadewa explained, emphasizing the government's commitment to adhering to the court's timeline.

The Constitutional Court's decision partially granted a lawsuit challenging the inclusion of the free nutritious meal project within the education budget under the 2026 State Budget Law. The court determined that the MBG project does not fit the operational definition of educational activities. It mandated that the MBG budget must be separated from the education budget in future state budgets, at the latest by 2028.

This separation aims to safeguard the constitutional mandate of allocating at least 20% of the state budget to education. The court also stated that this separation would provide a strong legal basis for the MBG project, a priority initiative by President Prabowo Subianto, which aims to provide meals for schoolchildren, toddlers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.

While the government accepts the 2028 deadline, education advocacy groups like the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) expressed disappointment, arguing the separation should have been implemented sooner. JPPI views the ruling as a significant victory for protecting education funding but believes the correction should have been immediate.