Prabowo's Four Priority Programs Swallow Rp 113 Trillion Budget: Here's the Breakdown

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has added Rp113.05 trillion (approximately US$7.3 billion based on the exchange rate at the time of writing, but this may vary) to the ministry/agency (K/L) expenditure budget in the 2024 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (RAPBN) draft.

This step is taken to accommodate four priority programs of President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

“So, for several quick-win programs that have been approved by the President-elect, there are four things with indications of the ministries or agencies that will execute them,” said Sri Mulyani in a meeting with the DPR Budget Board in Jakarta, as reported by Katadata on Wednesday (4/9/2024).

Of that budget, the largest amount will be allocated to a free nutritious meal program, totaling Rp71 trillion. This program will be run by the National Nutrition Agency to provide free lunches to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, toddlers, and students at all education levels.

Next is a program in the education sector involving school renovations totaling Rp20 trillion, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR). Then there's an integrated flagship school program in four locations with a budget of Rp2 trillion under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Furthermore, the national, regional, and village food barn program is budgeted at Rp15 trillion. This budget will be divided between the Ministry of PUPR and the Ministry of Agriculture, each receiving Rp7.5 trillion. This food barn will be implemented through an intensification program of 80 hectares (ha) and the creation of new rice fields or extensification of 150 ha.

Finally, an additional budget of Rp5 trillion is allocated to the health sector. This fund will be used for free health check-ups costing Rp3.2 trillion. This program will be run by the Ministry of Health, conducting free health checks for 52.2 million people, including blood pressure and blood sugar checks, and X-rays for catastrophic disease screening.

In addition, it will be used for the construction of high-quality comprehensive hospitals in regional areas with a budget of Rp1.8 trillion.

With these programs, the allocation of expenditure in the K/L budget item changes to Rp1,094.66 trillion from the initial draft of Rp976.79 trillion.