Defence spending up 18%

The federal government proposed around 18% increase in the defence budget as the country continued to face internal and external security challenges, the budget document showed on Wednesday. The defence budget outlay for 2024-25 is Rs2,128 billion – less than 12% of the total budget – compared to Rs1, 809 earmarked for the outgoing fiscal year 2023-24. However, the revised defence spending in the ongoing fiscal year would be Rs1,840 billion. The defence spending is 1.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), showing a decline compared to the previous years. The defence spending in 2022-23 was around 2% of GDP, the size of which has grown due to the rebasing of the economy. Defence analysts believe that a 17.6% increase is justified given a record inflation and devaluation of the rupee against the dollar in the last year.