Jakarta — Indonesia's National Library (Perpusnas) has suspended a program that sent free books to villages, community reading centers and prisons this yearn due to 2026's state budget cut, its chief told lawmakers on Thursday, 16 July 2026 in Jakarta.
Head of the Perpusnas E. Aminudin Aziz said the sharp funding cut has disrupted the agency's literacy works nationwide.
"It's true that the very drastic budget decline has disrupted works related to literacy," Aziz told lawmakers at a hearing with Commission X of the House of Representatives in Senayan, South Jakarta.
Further he explained the agency ran a book donation program in 2024 and 2025 that delivered 1,000 books to each site across villages, community reading corners, prisons and public health centers, adding that the initiative drew a strong positive response from communities but could not continue this year due to funding shortfalls.
"This year we cannot do it because there is no money," Aziz spoke honestly to lawmakers.
Under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian government's budget spending priority delivers to main programs that become the president's flagships programs - Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) and Red-White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) - caused budget cut to other institutions that are not really linked to the two programs.
The library's budget stood at 583.2 billion rupiah or about US$32.5 million in 2025, according to Aziz, but has since been cut further for 2026, with some reports citing a reduction of more than 45 percent from earlier funding levels.
Aziz said the agency has been in constant talks with Indonesia's National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to adjust targets set under the National Medium-Term Development Plan in the light of the smaller budget.
The official also said the cuts have questioned the practicality of maintaining high performance targets. He asked lawmakers to consider lowering national literacy targets to more realistic levels of given the reduced funding.
