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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment has proposed using the Rp70 trillion fund from the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program to support crop rejuvenation initiatives.“It will be used to finance the rejuvenation of optimal or premium commodity plants,” said Widiastuti, Deputy for Food and Agriculture Business Coordination at the ministry, during an event at the Pullman Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday, October 23, 2025.According to Widiastuti, no decision has been made yet on how the trillions of rupiah, previously returned by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to President Prabowo Subianto, will be used, as the funds risk remaining unabsorbed.“The proposal is still under discussion, so I can’t confirm whether it has been approved,” she added.Earlier, BGN returned Rp70 trillion to the President due to the likelihood of underutilization this year. For 2025, the body received a total allocation of Rp 71 trillion and an additional reserve of Rp 100 trillion.“Of the total budget, Rp99 trillion has been absorbed, while Rp 70 trillion was returned to the President because of potential under-absorption,” BGN Head Dadan said in an official statement on Monday, October 13, 2025.In the 2026 State Budget, BGN is set to receive Rp268 trillion, plus a reserve fund of Rp 67 trillion, bringing next year’s total budget to Rp335 trillion.The body targets 82.9 million beneficiaries for the MBG program, which requires approximately Rp1.2 trillion per day to operate.As of the second week of October, budget absorption for the MBG program reached Rp 6.25 trillion, or 36.97 percent of the total Rp71 trillion allocation.For the Government Assistance (Banper) component, absorption stood at Rp25.99 trillion, equivalent to around 45 percent of the Rp51.2 trillion budget.Dadan said the absorption level reflects the number of beneficiaries served through Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) nationwide. “Each SPPG established corresponds to about Rp1 billion absorbed per month,” he explained on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.Meanwhile, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said he was unaware of the Rp70 trillion fund being returned by BGN, clarifying that the unused Rp100 trillion reserve has not been allocated by the Finance Ministry.The Rp100 trillion reserve is not yet available because it hasn’t been released by the ministry,” Purbaya said.He added that the ministry is now focusing on improving the absorption of the Rp71 trillion budget. “The program itself is good, we just need to ensure better budget realization. I’ll be monitoring it closely until the end of October,” he told reporters at the Finance Ministry office on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.ditor’s Choice: BGN: Free Nutritious Meal Program Budget Absorption Reaches 42%Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
