Indonesia Cuts Outlay on Giant Free Meals Programme to $28b

Indonesia has trimmed spending plans for what could still be the world's second-most expensive free meals programme, offering modest relief from fiscal pressures amid President Prabowo Subianto's big-ticket projects.

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JAKARTA –

Spending on the programme, which targets reaching 83 million people in the coming months, is now forecast at 350 trillion rupiah (S$27.5 billion) next year after officials revised ingredient cost estimates lower by a third, said Mr Dadan Hindayana, head of the new National Nutrition Agency. That marks a 22 per cent drop from spending plans earlier this year.

This year's expenditures are expected to total about US$7.5 billion (S$9.6 billion), Mr Hindayana said in a recent interview. That represents a 29 per cent reduction from prior plans.

The recalibration of the five-days-a-week plan, aimed at improving health outcomes for students, children under five, and pregnant or breastfeeding women in the world's fourth-most populous nation, could ease some investor concerns about Indonesia's budget deficit outlook as the president presses for big projects early in his term.

Mr Prabowo has backed consumer stimulus measures, started rolling out tens of thousands of new community cooperatives and floated plans for an US$80 billion sea wall off the north Java coast.