Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto used his inaugural State of the Nation address on 15 August to present a Rp3,786.5 trillion (US$234 billion) draft budget for 2026 and to set out economic and governance priorities for the remainder of his term. The plan foresees economic growth of 5.4 percent, inflation of 2.5 percent and a fiscal deficit limited to 2.48 percent of gross domestic product. Prabowo said the government aims to eliminate the deficit entirely within three years by improving state-owned-enterprise efficiency and boosting revenue collection. More than one tenth of next year’s spending would fund his flagship social programmes. The president earmarked Rp335 trillion for free nutritious school meals, expanding coverage to 80 million students and pregnant women, and Rp508.2 trillion for wider social-protection schemes such as cash transfers and food subsidies. A further Rp402.4 trillion is allocated to energy security, including accelerated investment in renewable power as part of a goal to achieve 100 percent clean electricity within a decade. Prabowo coupled the welfare push with a pledge to “rectify” what he called widespread resource plundering. He said authorities have already seized 3.1 million hectares of illegally operated palm-oil plantations and identified 1,063 unauthorized mines that have cost the state an estimated Rp300 trillion, or about US$19 billion. The president ordered the military and police to shut the operations regardless of rank or political ties and announced new licensing rules for large rice mills to protect small farmers. The former defence chief also claimed unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since the 1998 Asian financial crisis and repeated a campaign promise to eradicate extreme poverty “as quickly as possible.” He highlighted a network of 80,000 village cooperatives, rising investment—Rp942 trillion in the first half of 2025—and other measures he said will make Southeast Asia’s largest economy more self-reliant and equitable.