Jakarta. Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto revealed that the proposed free school lunch budget by presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, is set at Rp 15,000 ($1) per child each day. This budget excludes the provision of milk.

"The menu is up to each region; we will not standardize it. It will be distributed evenly throughout Indonesia, amounting to Rp 15,000," explained Airlangga in Jakarta on Monday.

Assuming a student goes to school 245 times a year, the free lunch program would cost around Rp 327.81 trillion.

The plenary cabinet session led by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta discussed the government's work plan for 2025 and the macroeconomic and fiscal policy for 2025, even though Jokowi's term ends in October. One of the topics addressed was the free school lunch program.

"This is just the preliminary meeting. We discussed Prabowo's priority programs, including the initial stage of the free school lunch program," said Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia after attending the plenary cabinet session at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the discussions on the government work plan for 2025 and the 2025 State Budget draft would accommodate the programs of the elected president in the future. Defense Minister Prabowo is poised to be Indonesia's next president according to quick count results by several pollsters.

Budiman Sudjatmiko, Vice Chairman of the Expert Council of Prabowo's Campaign Team, had previously revealed that the full-scale free school lunch program would benefit around 82.9 million schools and pesantren (Islamic boarding school) children across Indonesia. The program is planned to be implemented gradually and is targeted to reach a full scale of 100 percent by 2029.

"Based on simulations and planning conducted by our team, this program will require full-scale financing of up to Rp 450 trillion per year. Therefore, it is estimated that this program will require financing of around Rp 100-Rp 120 trillion in the first year of the Prabowo's administration," Budiman said.

 

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