According to a media report published on Sunday, Pakistan’s armed forces are set to receive $7.6 billion in the next fiscal year’s budget, an increase of Rs. 83 billion over the current fiscal year.
When the annual budget is announced and allocations for various sectors are targeted, defence spending is frequently scrutinised.
According to the Dawn newspaper, the allocation of Rs. 1.453 trillion ($7.6 billion) is Rs. 83 billion greater than the previous year’s allotment of Rs. 1.37 trillion, representing an almost 6% rise.
According to defence sources, the enhanced funds will be used mostly for employee-related expenses, salaries, and allowances for personnel.
Other budget headings include civil works, which covers the development and repair of military infrastructure; physical assets, which cover local purchases of arms and ammunition as well as some imports and related costs; and operating expenses, which cover costs for transportation, ration, training, and treatment, according to the report.
In areas of security and foreign policy, the mighty Pakistan Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its almost 75-year history, has wielded significant power.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was deposed in April in a no-confidence vote, appeared to have lost the Army’s backing after refusing to accept the choice of the ISI espionage agency chief last year.
Sources claim that per-soldier spending is around Rs. 2.65 million per year, which is less than one-third of what India pays.
According to the research, an increase of Rs. 136 billion was predicted after accounting for an average of 11.3 percent inflation in the previous year.
As a result, the military forces will receive around Rs. 53 billion less than what they claim they need to deal with inflation, according to the report.
The impact of defence spending is evaluated in two ways: as a percentage of GDP and as a share of the overall budget pie.
The percentage of total expenditure explains how much money goes to the military. In the meanwhile, calculating the defence budget as a proportion of GDP reveals its economic impact.
According to these numbers, the defence budget would account for almost 16% of total spending, which is similar to the previous year.
However, its percentage of GDP would fall from 2.54 percent in the previous fiscal year to 2.2 percent in the following fiscal year.
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