Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has announced that he will closely monitor budget absorption across ministries and government agencies, warning that unspent funds may be reallocated as early as next month.
“I will give them until the end of October. If they think they cannot spend the funds by year-end, we will take the money back,” Purbaya said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
The funds, he cited, would then be redirected toward productive programs with a direct impact on the public.
“We will distribute them to programs that are ready to be executed and directly benefit the people. I don’t want idle money,” he stressed.
Purbaya previously challenged National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Chief Dadan Hindayana to account for the low budget absorption of the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG). The government allocated Rp70 trillion (US$4.48 billion) for the program in 2025, but as of August, less than half had been disbursed despite a target of reaching 82.9 million beneficiaries.
He noted that monitoring of MBG implementation is conducted regularly, but the reasons behind the low budget realization remain unclear. “Once a month we will hold a press conference with the MBG head. If absorption remains poor, he will have to explain it to the public while I sit beside him,” Purbaya told lawmakers during a hearing with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday, September 11, 2025.
The minister underlined that he does not want to see government spending slow down again, emphasizing that accelerated budget realization is key to boosting economic growth.
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