Support Free Nutrition Eating Program, BI Will Provide Incentives

BANDA ACEH - Bank Indonesia (BI) said it would support President Prabowo Subianto's Asta Cita programs such as the free nutritious eating program (MBG), one of which is through incentives for macroprudential liquidity policies (KLM) which will be directed to business sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, and fisheries.

Meanwhile, KLM incentives are incentives from BI by reducing the mandatory demand of banks in BI if banks distribute credit to priority sectors.

"For example, now there is MBG, so automatically there are incentives in the agriculture, horticultural, fisheries, and so on," said BI Macroprudential Policy Department (DKMP) Director Nugroho Joko Prastowo in a media briefing at the BI Aceh Representative Office, Friday, February 7.

According to him, the KLM incentives will be focused on assisting the Prabowo Subianto government program which can support economic growth and its provision will not be limited to business sectors related to the MBG program.

Joko said BI would also expand KLM incentives to other sectors related to the Asta Cita Prabowo program which absorbs a lot of work, including Trade, Agriculture, Processing Industry, Construction, Real Estate, & Public Housing, Warehousing Transportation, Tourism and Creative Economy.

"This is only one program related to MBG, earlier all those related to Asta Cita in match, right with sectors that get KLM incentives even though they are sorted based on many who absorb labor or are labor-intensive," he said.

Previously, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said that his party was also committed to supporting various Asta Cita programs promoted by President Prabowo Subianto's government, one of which was the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program.

Perry conveyed that the Free Nutrition Food program can improve people's nutrition so as to create an inclusive economic ecosystem in supporting the economy and financial system.

"We are also preparing to support Bank Indonesia on how to eat nutritiously. We support this program to be very good because it forms an ecosystem, especially inclusive economic finance," at the launch of the 2024 Indonesian Economic Report (LPI), Wednesday, January 22.

Perry added that Bank Indonesia, with its headquarters and 46 representative offices throughout Indonesia, is designing various policies that can support the success of the program.

"We are discussing how Bank Indonesia is not only the head office, instead 46 Bank Indonesia offices throughout Indonesia can support the success program of this program," he said.