MBG Budget Reaches IDR 355 Trillion, Government Claims to Boost the Creation of Millions of Jobs

JAKARTA - The government claims that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program has great potential in opening up employment opportunities, with an estimated 3 million new workers.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said that government spending for the MBG program reached around Rp80 trillion each quarter and overall, the total MBG budget in 2026 is projected to reach Rp335 trillion.

"This means that our expenditure for the free nutritious meal program every quarter is around Rp. 80 trillion and the program last year to support the economy is around Rp. 37 trillion. So in fact, if we double it, it means that we can create growth and job creation by this program. around 3 million jobs," he said at the Indonesia Economic Summit (IES), Tuesday, February 3.

He explained that the government's calculations showed that every increase in economic growth by 1 percent has the potential to absorb around 400,000 workers.

With this assumption, the economic impact of the MBG program is estimated to be equivalent to a contribution of around 7 percent of growth, as long as the supply chain can run optimally.

Airlangga assessed that this condition is one of the factors that support the government's optimism in pursuing an economic growth target of 8 percent in 2028.

"Provided that the supply chain works optimally, the 8 percent growth target in 2028 is very reasonable to achieve," he said.

For information, in 2025 the realization of the MBG program budget was recorded at Rp51.5 trillion or around 72.5 percent of the total 2025 state budget ceiling which was set at Rp71 trillion.