In his first seven months in office, Indonesia's president has combined populism with austerity and a security-first approach to governance, while courting major powers and international forums. However, trade risks and fiscal strain could lead to deeper spending cuts or drive expanded protests if growth stalls or security tensions escalate. Since taking office in October 2024, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has pursued a mix of welfare populism with security-minded governance. For example, upon taking office, Subianto unveiled his flagship social initiative, the Free Nutritious Meals Program, on which he campaigned. The program seeks to provide meals to 89 million schoolchildren and pregnant women across Indonesia's vast and largely insufficiently connected archipelago. The program is transforming fiscal planning, as it is partially funded by a presidential directive that slashed approximately $20 billion from other ministerial and regional budgets and thus imposed a level of austerity in other areas, such as education...
