Jakarta. Indonesia’s flagship Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program could require more than Rp 300 trillion ($18.58 billion) in state funds annually by 2026 as the government expands coverage to 82 million beneficiaries, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Wednesday.

The initiative, launched earlier this year under President Prabowo Subianto, aims to provide free nutritious meals to schoolchildren and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers. The government allocated Rp 71 trillion for the program in 2025 and has set aside an additional Rp 100 trillion in reserves.

“If 82 million beneficiaries receive these meals next year, the budget requirement will exceed Rp 300 trillion,” Sri Mulyani told the National Seminar on Islamic Economics and Finance in Jakarta. She said the program is expected to generate significant economic activity and called for small businesses, Islamic boarding schools, and halal industry players to participate in its supply chain.

“The funding is there, and can be linked to the halal industry value chain,” she said, adding that the state budget will remain a key tool for delivering development and social protection programs.

National Nutrition Agency head Dadan Hindayana said the government has so far spent Rp 7.9 trillion on the program, with spending expected to rise sharply in August and September as the number of recipients expands.

At the start of the year, the program targeted 17.9 million people, including 15.5 million schoolchildren and 2.4 million pregnant or breastfeeding women and toddlers. The government expects to reach about 50 million beneficiaries by September, requiring around Rp 19 trillion in funding.

The program is supported by more than 5,100 community kitchens, with plans to add 14,000 more in collaboration with the armed forces, police, state intelligence agency, business groups, and major Muslim organizations. Construction costs for the new kitchens --up to Rp 2 billion each-- are funded by partners rather than the state.

“The funds already circulating in communities for building these kitchens amount to nearly Rp 28 trillion, and this is partner funding, not state money,” Dadan said.