inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program and Merah Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP) will be the driving forces in achieving 8 percent year-on-year (yoy) economic growth.

He said the MBG program, at its peak, could provide 30,000 kitchens and employ 1.4 million workers.

"And the rule of thumb for economic growth is that every 400,000 (workers) is equal to 1 percent, and from there, it can drive growth of 2-3 percent," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga on Thursday (10/16/2025).

On the other hand, he said that the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP) could quadruple the flow of funds to villages, from the previous IDR 1 billion per year per village to IDR 4 billion per year per village.

"Of course, these effects will add to the growth engine that is currently operating," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

He further explained that there is still a growth engine in the digitalization sector, namely the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which has the potential to increase the Southeast Asian region's economy to USD 2 trillion by 2030.

He explained that several indicators that increase his optimism include the frequent use of Indonesian Local Currency Transactions (LCTs) in various countries in Southeast Asia, from the United Arab Emirates to Japan.

"And these users are using local transactions in these various countries," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

On this occasion, he revealed that the number of users of the Indonesian Standard Quick Response Code (QRIS) service has reached 56 million.

"There are currently around 56 million QRIS users. So, this makes us optimistic that the public has begun the financial revolution and embraced digitalization," explained Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

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