The Pakistan government has proposed a 15.5% increase in the defence budget for the current fiscal, making up about 1.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The defence spending in 2022-23 was around 2% of the country’s GDP, the size of which has grown due to the rebasing of the economy.
Noteworthy that all the three defence services – Army, Navy, Air Force – were given an equal increase in the budget, although the military takes the major share given its size and the role.
The budget document shows that defence outlay for 2023-24 would be 1,804 billion PKR compared to the revised defence spending of 1,591 billion PKR earmarked for the outgoing fiscal year.
To be noted, the defence sector expenses are the second biggest component of the annual expenditure after the debt payments, for the country.
