JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia needs 100 trillion rupiah ($6.11 billion) in additional budget to expand its free nutritious meals programme to reach about a quarter of its population by year-end, the head of the agency overseeing the programme said on Friday.
Dadan Hindayana told reporters President Prabowo Subianto is considering ways to expand the scheme by the end of this year to reach 82 million of Indonesia’s 280 million population, much earlier than the initial target of 2029.
Financial markets in Indonesia have raised concerns about the cost of the free meals programme, the centrepiece of Prabowo’s election campaign last year, particularly after he said he wanted to be more daring with debt to fund fiscal gaps.
It currently has a budget of 71 trillion rupiah, meant for the distribution of meals for up to 17.5 million recipients, with a design for a gradual roll out over several years.
The scheme got underway earlier this month for school children and pregnant women, with 570,000 mouths to feed on its opening day.
Investors and rating agencies have warned that raising Indonesia’s debt levels could hurt its recent hard-won reputation for fiscal prudence.
During campaign rallies, Prabowo had estimated the programme would cost 450 trillion rupiah ($27.51 billion) when fully implemented.
($1 = 16,360.0000 rupiah)
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Ananda Teresia; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty)
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