Indonesia cuts free meal programme to save $3 billion
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency will distribute free meals five days a week instead of six starting March 31, targeting savings of "around 40 trillion rupiah" (S$3 billion)
- Deputy head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang called the cut the government's first austerity measure to cushion Southeast Asia's largest economy from Middle East fallout that has sent global oil prices soaring
- Agency head Dadan Hindayana said recipients in remote areas or regions with high stunting rates will still receive meals six days a week, calling Saturday distribution "a strategic step" to ensure adequate nutrition
- President Prabowo Subianto had previously insisted the programme — originally budgeted at 335 trillion rupiah for 2026 — would remain untouched, claiming other cost-saving measures were available
- Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said the government is also seeking to set aside 80 trillion rupiah to shield the economy from Middle East fallout
- The government is considering allowing workers to work remotely one day a week as a separate measure to curb fuel consumption
- The free meal programme has served 61 million people — mainly children, toddlers, and pregnant or breastfeeding women — since its 2025 launch, but has faced criticism over food poisoning cases
Why it matters: Indonesia is scaling back a flagship social programme that feeds 61 million people — including schoolchildren, toddlers, and pregnant women — to absorb oil price shocks from the Iran war. The cut directly reverses President Prabowo's earlier pledge that the 335 trillion rupiah initiative would remain untouched, marking the first concrete austerity trade-off from a leader who had framed the meals programme as politically untouchable.
Ask SkimNews
