Poki: I've cut my own hair, Mom

Mother: Why?

Poki: Efficiency

Poki: I also want to stop going to school as well

Mother: Are you mad?

Poki: Not mad, that's efficiency

Mother: School can't be efficiency-ised.

Poki: It doesn't matter, the free food isn't very nice anyway

President Prabowo Subianto's budget efficiency policy to save over 306 trillion rupiah (US$18.9 billion) to fund his priority programs have left many Indonesians scratching their head in confusion over the scale and seemingly indiscriminate nature of the cuts.

While the public has been left guessing as to where the money that the government desperately wants to save will actually go, the only indication so far is that around 100 trillion rupiah will be channelled to fund Prabowo's pet free nutritious meals (MBG) program for school children and pregnant mothers, which is already the subject of widespread criticisms over the poor quality of meals and regular reports of food poisoning.

Commenting on the wider economic impact of the cuts, a broadcaster from a state-owned radio station summarised accounts of those impacted by the cuts as while it may help provide meals for some students at school, with their parents no longer employed, they may not be able to afford dinner.

The cuts also contradict Prabowo's food self-sufficiency programs as thousands of hectares of irrigation projects and over a dozen dams that were supposed to be built this year have been cancelled. A 50-percent cut in the national weather agency's budget will undermine disaster preparedness when the country is already facing numerous natural disasters for which it is woefully unprepared. The education and healthcare budgets may also be facing cuts.

Business had also been anticipating that the cuts may disrupt public services, particularly those related to permits and bureaucracy, which even under normal conditions are slow and unpredictable.

Meanwhile Prabowo's bloated cabinet of more than 100 ministers, deputy ministers, advisors and special staff, with numerous ministries and agencies having overlapping responsibilities, which is expected to add US$125 million to the national budget over five years, will remain untouched by the efficiency measures.

[Based on a Jakarta Post Editorial on February 17 titled "Questioning budget cuts".]