Indonesia further cuts budget of president’s free meals scheme

Indonesia ⁠has further reduced its ⁠budget for President Prabowo Subianto’s ⁠signature free school meals programme to 229 trillion rupiah (US$12.81 billion) from 268 trillion rupiah and more cuts are possible, senior officials running the project said on Tuesday.
The programme is Prabowo’s most important ‌and expensive election campaign pledge and has been central to wider concerns about Indonesia’s fiscal health.
Originally, it was allotted 335 trillion rupiah in 2026 with a target by the end...