JAKARTA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has allocated 71 trillion rupiah (approximately 4.33 billion U.S. dollars) for the free school lunch program in the 2025 state budget, as announced by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at a press conference on Monday.

This figure is below the initial estimate of up to 120 trillion rupiah (around 7.32 billion dollars).

The program, championed by president-elect Prabowo Subianto during his campaign before the February 2024 presidential election, will be available to students.

"The president-elect has agreed to implement this program in stages, and the allocation for the first year is approximately 71 trillion rupiah," Indrawati stated.

Thomas Djiwandono, a member of Prabowo's Synchronization Task Force, which is designed to coordinate the transition between the incoming and outgoing governments, has assured that this initiative will not strain the state's finances, given that the authorities have established a fiscal deficit goal of 2.29 to 2.82 percent of the gross domestic product.

Prabowo Subianto is set to take office in October 2024, succeeding President Joko Widodo, who has served the archipelago for two terms, totaling 10 years. Enditem

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