Purbaya: MBG has the potential to boost economic growth above 1 percent

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program has made a major contribution to the national economy.

He added that the program was able to create jobs while encouraging economic growth.

Purbaya estimates that the program has the potential to absorb up to 1 million workers, and based on the calculation method commonly used by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), every 1 percent economic growth can open about 450,000 jobs.

"This input, this growth, how many workers? If I'm not mistaken, the last figure I know, 1 percent is 450 thousand jobs. That means if 1 million, 2 percent is less. It's from MBG alone," he told the media, Tuesday, April 7.

However, he emphasized that the figure was not entirely clean (net), because some of the workforce likely came from the transfer of other sectors to the MBG program, so it was not entirely a new job creation.

"But later there will also be people who move there, it will be a reduction, so it's not 2 percent, but because some people move there from other places, moved to other places before, calculated GDP in other places, now to MBG," he said.

However, Purbaya said that overall the impact of this program was still considered significant.

He estimated that MBG's net contribution to economic growth could be above 1 percent if the program was optimally implemented.

"But that way it will be quite significant, I think 1 percent more visible impact, if it is run well. Net yes, net yes. Not gross like that," he concluded.