No Budget Cut for Free Meal Program, Says Minister Airlangga Hartarto
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20 July 2024 19:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Palembang - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has assured that there will be no budget cuts for the free meal program initiated by President-elect Prabowo Subianto.
"The budget for this program would not be cut," he told reporters on Saturday, July 20, Antara reported.
He said that the budget allocation for the program's implementation has been set at Rp71 trillion in the 2025 Draft State Budget (APBN).
However, he added that the program will be adjusted to the food prices in each region. "Let's see about the implementation because food prices in every region are different," Airlangga said.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, said that for the free lunch program, an allocation of Rp7,500 (approximately US$0.46) per lunch portion would be sufficient. This would be lower than the proposed per lunch cost of Rp15,000.
However, it is still being discussed with the President-elect's team.
He explained that the amount is not considered too low since each region has different food prices.
The issue of budget cuts for the free lunch program emerged after economist Heriyanto Irawan met with the Prabowo-Gibran synchronization task force.
He revealed that the President-elect's team has been considering lowering the daily lunch cost.
"After communicating the budget amounting to Rp71 trillion, the President-elect's economic team is considering whether the lunch cost per day could be lowered from Rp15,000 to Rp9,000, or even to Rp7,500," he said.
He added that lowering the cost could allow the program to reach a wider number of people.
"We can understand because they want the program to reach more people," Irawan said.
Earlier, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that she is aware of the challenges to implementing the program. To mitigate these challenges, her ministry is planning to carry out reforms in several aspects.
"We continue to reform in terms of taxation, strengthening institutions, eradicating corruption, and increasing investment in the digital sector to minimize corruption," she said on May 27, 2024.
ANTARA
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