Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Djiwandono stated on November 7 that the Government will prioritise its state budget for the enhancement of human resources quality.
Addressing the Nomura-Verdhana Indonesia Conference 2024 in Jakarta, Djiwandono underscored the need to address matters related to human resources so that Indonesia can move forward.
President Prabowo Subianto has made various strategic decisions to respond to challenges in the development of human resources, such as the Free Nutritious Meals programme for students. This is a nutritional improvement programme which is a starting point of investment in the improvement of the quality of Indonesian human resources, he affirmed.
In addition to this programme, the government is focusing on food security, health, and improvement of the education sector.
In this regard, the official affirmed that the Ministry of Finance will continue to focus on the fiscal condition with a precautionary principle.
The ministry has set a budget for the free meals programme of 71 trillion IDR (around 4.51 billion USD) for the 2025 budget year, or 0.29% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The budget includes food, distribution, and operational costs of institutions that handle the programme.
The programme is targeted to provide a multiplier economic effect. In addition to improving the quality of human resources, it is expected to drive economic growth by around 0.10%. It is also estimated to provide jobs to 820,000 workers through the empowerment of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)./.
