Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said on Friday he will continue with a large-scale free meals programme, dismissing what he called an "extraordinary" campaign accusing him of squandering public funds. He repeated that the initiative will be financed by reallocations and efficiency measures within the state budget.
Speaking at the inauguration of a free meal kitchen operated by the national police in Jakarta, Prabowo affirmed: "We will implement this programme." He directly addressed critics, saying: "We will face the extraordinary campaign, which said that I am wasting money."
The policy has drawn scrutiny from investors amid recent market turmoil. The country, Southeast Asia's largest economy, saw a severe market reaction after index provider MSCI issued a warning related to stock market transparency. That warning triggered a frantic sell-off that cut the market's aggregate value by $120 billion. In the days that followed, Moody's placed Indonesia's sovereign bond-rating outlook - and that of some of its companies - on negative.
Investor concern has been focused in part on the government's spending plans, of which Prabowo's free meals scheme is a prominent element. The programme is valued at $20 billion. In response to those concerns, Prabowo said savings from other budget items will fund the programme and that Indonesia will remain within its self-imposed fiscal deficit ceiling of 3% of gross domestic product.
"This is what we are saving money on, this is what we are diverting... Our state budget does not exceed the parameters we set," he said.
The public health record of the programme has also been called into question. Since its launch in January of last year, at least 15,000 children nationwide have reportedly fallen ill from food poisoning linked to the free meals. At the Jakarta event, Prabowo acknowledged the incidents but characterized the percentage of affected children as low and argued the overall initiative had succeeded. He noted that the programme had reached 60 million recipients as of Friday.
The president's remarks at the police-run kitchen underline both his commitment to the policy and the administration's position that the programme can be implemented without breaching fiscal rules. Beyond those declarations, the statements and recent market moves have left investors and ratings agencies weighing fiscal management and transparency as the programme proceeds.