Free Nutrition Food Will Not Gerus Education Expenditure Budget

Rupiah (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The 2025 State Budget for lunch or nutritious food for school children in the 2025 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget Draft (RAPBN) is considered not to erode the educational programs that have been running so far.

Executive Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Yose Rizal Damuri said, RABPN 2025 allocates a budget for a free nutritious eating program, which is one of Prabowo Subianto's priority programs, amounting to Rp71 trillion or 2 percent of the total state expenditure plan of Rp3,613.1 trillion.

"I don't think it will affect us because we also see a rapid increase in the overall budget," Yose said, quoting Antara.

The free nutritious food program is included in the draft education budget post which is allocated IDR 722.6 trillion or 20 percent of the total state expenditure.

The education budget is allocated for improving the nutrition of school children, renovating schools, and developing superior schools.

The education budget is also allocated for the expansion of scholarship programs, cultural promotion, strengthening world-class universities, and for research development.

"But this is a financial problem, whether the implementation can be carried out," said Yose.

President Joko Widodo conveyed the government's statement on the Draft Law on the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 and its Financial Note at the DPR RI Plenary Session in Jakarta, Friday. The President said the role of the State Budget must be used to strengthen Indonesia towards developed countries.

The preparation of the 2025 RAPBN is based on the basic assumption, namely inflation is maintained in the range of 2.5 percent, economic growth is estimated at 5.2 percent, the rupiah exchange rate is estimated at around Rp. 16,100 per US dollar, the 10 year SBN interest rate is at 7.1 percent, the price of Indonesian crude oil is estimated at 82 US dollars/barrels, oil lifting is estimated at 600 thousand barrels per day and natural gas reaches 1.005 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

"The 2025 State Budget Architecture is an important pillar to maintain sustainability through strengthening various sustainable flagship programs from the current government to the upcoming government," said the President.

The President continued, the 2025 RAPBN also emphasizes optimizing income, quality spending, and innovative financing. State spending is planned at IDR 3,613.1 trillion, consisting of central government spending of IDR 2,693.2 trillion, and transfers to the regions amounting to IDR 919.9 trillion.

Meanwhile, state revenues in 2025 are designed at IDR 2,996.9 trillion, consisting of tax revenues of IDR 2,490.9 trillion and non-tax state revenues of IDR 505.4 trillion.

Then, the 2025 budget deficit is planned at 2.53% of GDP or IDR 616.2 trillion, which will be financed by utilizing safe and carefully managed financing sources.

The State Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 is present during the transition period of government, so the preparation process is also special.

Under Law No. 17 of 2007 concerning the 2005 '2025 National Long-Term Development Plan, the president who is currently serving in the last year of his administration is required to draw up a government work plan (RKP) for the first year of the next presidential administration.

However, the elected president in the next period still has the flexibility to improve the RKP and APBN in the first year of his government through the APBN (APBN-P) change mechanism.