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View all search results8% growth remains pipe dream as Prabowo begins second year
The government must zero in on strengthening manufacturing, cutting logistics costs, ensuring legal certainty and preserving fiscal credibility if it wants to turn the President's 8 percent growth dream into reality, experts say, and perhaps kill the free meals program..
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President Prabowo Subianto delivers his State of the Nation Address on Aug. 15, 2025, during the annual plenary meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
W
hile economic growth has been steady in the first year of President Prabowo Subianto’s term, its pace is still far below his ambitious target of 8 percent and analysts doubt that flagship initiatives like the free nutritious meal program can deliver the expected boost.
At the 2025 Forbes Global CEO Conference on Wednesday, Prabowo maintained his optimism in declaring that 8 percent growth “is very achievable”, despite knowing full well that GDP grew only 4.87 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the first quarter of 2025 and 5.12 percent yoy in the second quarter.
The last time Indonesia’s economy touched the 7 percent mark was in mid-2021, a statistical rebound following a slump during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In normal times, however, growth has hovered stubbornly at around 5 percent for more than a decade.
The President’s optimism rests on a simple, yet questionable, calculation.
“Economic experts tell me that 1 percent growth will create 400,000 jobs,” he said. Since the free meals program was expected to generate 1.5 million jobs, Prabowo figured that alone would secure around 3 percent growth.
However, the program has been plagued by health and safety concerns after hundreds of students contracted food poisoning after eating free meals, while its slow execution has paradoxically hampered economic growth so far.
