September 5, 2026 | 09:03 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has opened the possibility of reducing the 2027 budget for the free nutritious meal (MBG) program to below Rp200 trillion. BGN Head Sudaryono said the government will recalculate the program's budget requirements and discuss it with the Minister of Finance.
"It's possible to be below Rp200 trillion," Sudaryono said after a meeting with the parliament on Thursday.
According to Sudaryono, the budget for MBG remains subject to change as calculations are made based on target beneficiaries and program needs. He added that the BGN will strive for efficiency to optimize budget utilization. "We'll discuss it again with the Minister of Finance, and we'll also discuss it internally, and we'll recalculate it," he said.
The government earlier set the 2027 MBG budget at Rp240 trillion, but Sudaryono said the figure is open to more reductions.
He claimed that BGN had implemented efficiency measures in the 2026 MBG budget. After combing through and updating beneficiary data, the budget was reduced to around Rp229 trillion from a Rp268 trillion ceiling.
These efficiency measures were implemented after BGN discovered approximately 6 million duplicate beneficiaries. He explained that the double registrations included students from Islamic boarding schools who were also registered as students at public schools. BGN also discovered MBG kitchens that already had virtual accounts and beneficiary lists, but were not yet operational.
BGN then withdrew VA from 414 kitchens. Of these withdrawals, approximately Rp311 billion was returned to the state treasury.
In addition to updating recipient data, BGN is also evaluating beneficiaries from elite private schools.
Sudaryono said further efficiency measures can be implemented if discrepancies in data or activities are found. Therefore, he did not rule out the possibility of the 2027 MBG budget being below Rp200 trillion.
Previously, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government would consider streamlining the MBG budget to below Rp200 trillion per year. This plan, he said, had been discussed with BGN Head Sudayono. "I've spoken with the new Head of BGN. It seems possible to make the budget more efficient," he said in Jakarta, as reported by Antara on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
Read: More Free Meal Poisonings Hit Indonesia: 7 Sick in Bengkulu
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