Indonesia Cuts Outlay on Giant Free Meals Program to $21 Billion
By and Agnieszka de Sousa
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Indonesia has trimmed spending plans for what could still be the world's second-most expensive free meals program, offering modest relief from fiscal pressures as President Prabowo Subianto advances a host of big-ticket projects.
Planned spending on the program, which targets reaching 83 million people in the coming months, is now forecast at 350 trillion rupiah ($21.4 billion) next year after officials revised ingredient cost estimates lower by a third, said Dadan Hindayana, head of the newly created National Nutrition Agency. That marks a 22% drop from spending plans earlier this year.
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