Seeking to sustain recent gains in its struggle against terrorism, the Pakistani government has allocated 860.1 billion Rupees to the defence budget for 2016-17, compared with 775.8 billion for the preceding year, according to press reports in Islamabad. Average budget increase over the last four years has been 11%.
Of the total, 327 billion Rupees is dedicated to employee-related costs, 216.1 billion for operating expenses and 211.7 billion for physical assets, with the army receiving the lion’s share with 47% while the air force and navy receive approximately 20% and 10% respectively.
In addition the armed forces will be allocated 192 billion Rupees from contingent liability budgets and 100 billion from the Coalition Support Fund. However, some observers claim that the Pakistani defence budget has declined in real terms as a percentage of the national budget. The army’s share of 390 billion, for example, equates to just 8% of national expenses. Officials counter this by comparing national expenditure per soldier, at US$ 8,077 per annum, with India ($17,554), Turkey ($31,184), Saudi Arabia ($269,060) and the US ($426,814).
Of the total, 327 billion Rupees is dedicated to employee-related costs, 216.1 billion for operating expenses and 211.7 billion for physical assets, with the army receiving the lion’s share with 47% while the air force and navy receive approximately 20% and 10% respectively.
In addition the armed forces will be allocated 192 billion Rupees from contingent liability budgets and 100 billion from the Coalition Support Fund. However, some observers claim that the Pakistani defence budget has declined in real terms as a percentage of the national budget. The army’s share of 390 billion, for example, equates to just 8% of national expenses. Officials counter this by comparing national expenditure per soldier, at US$ 8,077 per annum, with India ($17,554), Turkey ($31,184), Saudi Arabia ($269,060) and the US ($426,814).
Tim Mahon