The federal government has increased the defence budget by 6%, raising it to over Rs 1.45 trillion — to meet the armed forces’ increased salary requirements among other needs.
A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, presided by Miftah Ismail, decided to increase the defence budget by 6% on Friday. The decision will result in an overall increase of Rs. 182 million rupees.
The committee also took the decision to implement a 10% duty on petrol imported from China, in order to mitigate the misuse of the bilateral free trade agreement. Some oil marketing firms rerouted their imports through China to evade 10% customs duties.
There had been a demand from the Ministry of Defence for an additional Rs 80 billion defence budget for “critical shortfalls”. It had also asked for additional allowance in the budget for spending on the Jinnah Naval base, the Naval Base Turbat and multi-functional office building in the headquarters.
The finance ministry believed that the additional spending in fiscal year 2021-22 ending on June 30 will be less than Rs 80 billion. The defence budget approved by the National Assembly last year was Rs1.373 trillion.
Due to the increased budget, the next fiscal year’s defence budget may also be higher than the previously estimated figure of over Rs 1.55 trillion.
In total, the Ministry of Defence got Rs 153 billion or 11.8% additional money in this fiscal year due to the revised budget of the previous year, which is equal to the average inflation rate in Pakistan.
The defence spending of the country also sits equal to the Gross Domestic Product at 2.2%.
A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, presided by Miftah Ismail, decided to increase the defence budget by 6% on Friday. The decision will result in an overall increase of Rs. 182 million rupees.
The committee also took the decision to implement a 10% duty on petrol imported from China, in order to mitigate the misuse of the bilateral free trade agreement. Some oil marketing firms rerouted their imports through China to evade 10% customs duties.
There had been a demand from the Ministry of Defence for an additional Rs 80 billion defence budget for “critical shortfalls”. It had also asked for additional allowance in the budget for spending on the Jinnah Naval base, the Naval Base Turbat and multi-functional office building in the headquarters.
The finance ministry believed that the additional spending in fiscal year 2021-22 ending on June 30 will be less than Rs 80 billion. The defence budget approved by the National Assembly last year was Rs1.373 trillion.
Due to the increased budget, the next fiscal year’s defence budget may also be higher than the previously estimated figure of over Rs 1.55 trillion.
In total, the Ministry of Defence got Rs 153 billion or 11.8% additional money in this fiscal year due to the revised budget of the previous year, which is equal to the average inflation rate in Pakistan.
The defence spending of the country also sits equal to the Gross Domestic Product at 2.2%.