A feasible free lunch program
The Indonesian people are currently in the midst of waiting for the new government to unveil various programs that have been controversial for some time. One of the programs is the Free Lunch Program.
Many Indonesians were initially skeptical about the Free Lunch Program. They thought the program was just a gimmick to attract more votes. Several months after the election, it became clear that the program was a well thought-out program to improve the level of children's ability to learn.
Another sticking point was the cost of the free lunch program. Initially it was thought that the program would be adopted all at once, which entailed a large program budget. This issue was recently clarified by the statement that the cost of the program for the first year, in 2025, will be around Rp.71 trillion. This is an amount within the capacity of the Indonesian budget to absorb.
In the meantime, Central Board of Statistics in Indonesia released its balance of trade report for May 2024, which registered a slightly higher surplus than the previous month. The surplus in May was $2,927 million compared to the $2,720.1 million achieved in April. The total trade surplus for the first five months of 2024 stands at $13,057.8, 21% lower than the $16,474.6 million achieved in the same period of the previous year. Exports in May 2024 reached $22,326.8 million while imports in that month reached $19,399.8 million. Cumulative exports between January to May 2024 reached $104,249 million while exports for the same period of previous year reached $108,052 million. Cumulative imports in the first five months in 2024 reached $91,191.2 million, a slight decline compared to the previous year’s value of $91,577.4 million.
The Central Board of Statistics also reported the Consumer Price Index for May, which resulted in a small deflation of 0.03%. With that monthly deflation, Y/Y inflation in May reached 2.84%, a level within the inflation target corridor administered by the Central Bank. Against that background, Bank Indonesia kept the benchmark rate constant at 6.25% in the policy meeting held on June 19-20, 2024.
Now read on...
Register to sample a report