Prabowo Defends MBG, Cites Trillions Lost for 34 Years
In a Jakarta cabinet meeting, the President linked criticism of MBG to stunting that still affects at least a quarter of children.
President Prabowo Subianto defended the Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) program after it was criticized again as a waste of the budget. At the full cabinet session at Istana Negara in Jakarta on Monday (20/7), Prabowo said the attacks on MBG were odd because the economic leakages he said had reached trillions every year for 34 years had drawn little scrutiny.
He said MBG is aimed at Indonesian children, pregnant women and the elderly. Prabowo also stressed that the program is tied to nutrition problems, saying at least a quarter of children experience stunting and many children go to school without breakfast. According to his explanation quoted by Republika, Prabowo referred to underinvoicing, transfer pricing, falsified trade reports and smuggling as sources of economic leakage. He said critics often argue the economy could collapse, share prices could tumble and the exchange rate could weaken.