Prabowo Rules Out MBG Funding Cuts Amid Budget Savings Plan

March 17, 2026 | 05:52 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto said his administration will not cut funding for its flagship Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, insisting the initiative will remain fully protected despite ongoing budget efficiency measures.

Prabowo made the remarks in a special interview with Bloomberg at his residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, over the weekend. In the interview, he dismissed suggestions that the government could reduce spending on the MBG program as part of broader fiscal savings.

“I will not touch the free meal (program),” Prabowo said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The president acknowledged that Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, as the state treasurer, is expected to take a conservative approach to managing the state budget, or APBN.

He said he had no issue with Purbaya scrutinizing expenditures to improve efficiency, adding that the real problem would be if the finance minister were too loose in overseeing public finances.

“But I am sure, as I said, we spend our money from the money that is going to be lost due to corruption,” Prabowo said in the interview.

The Gerindra Party chair said funding for the MBG program comes from the government’s cost-cutting drive. He claimed that in the first months of his presidency, his administration had saved around Rp308 trillion, or roughly US$18 billion, through tighter budget controls.

According to Prabowo, the savings were achieved by reviewing state spending item by item and cutting what he described as wasteful and inefficient expenditures.

“Reducing extravagance, reducing inefficiency. And I believe this will directly lead to corruption,” he said.

Prabowo also acknowledged that his decision to slash state spending had triggered significant debate. Still, he said he remained firm that the savings should be redirected to finance the free meals program.

“There was a big debate. So, I am using all of this money for my free meal program, and so on. And I am sure there is more money hidden and wasted,” he said.

The Free Nutritious Meals program is one of Prabowo’s signature policies and has become a major spending priority for his administration.

Earlier this month, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Djiwandono said the government had spent Rp44 trillion (US$2.6 billion) on the program as of March 9, with 61.62 million beneficiaries reached.

Read: Palace: Prabowo Orders Objective Probe Into Attack on Andrie Yunus

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