ISLAMABAD: The federal government has allocated Rs1.37 trillion for defence services in the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, showing an increase of 6.2 percent.
The proposed increase in the defence budget is less than recent years except for FY 2019-20 when the armed forces received a raise of 4.74 percent. The expenditure constitutes 16 per cent of the total outlay of the budget, which is Rs8.48 trillion. The allocation is 2.54 percent of the GDP.
The government has also allocated Rs360 billion which would be paid to the retired military officers. This amount is part of the current expenditure instead of the defence budget.
The breakdown of the proposed allocation reveals that the armed forces have received a higher raise for civil works and physical assets.
The amount earmarked for physical assets has increased by 9.4 percent to Rs391.5 billion as compared to the outgoing year. The government has proposed Rs169.8 billion for civil works which is 9.2 percent higher than the last year
Operating expenses have been increased by 8.64 percent as the government has allocated Rs327.14bn. This covers expenses incurred on transport, ration, training and treatment.
Another Rs481.6bn, which makes 35 percent of the total defence allocation, is being earmarked for employees-related expenses, salaries and allowances of servicemen.
The army will receive the biggest share with Rs651.5bn (47.55 percent). Pakistan Air Force will be given Rs291.2bn (21.26 per cent), Pakistan Navy will receive Rs148.7bn (10.85 percent), and inter-services organisations have been allocated Rs278.5bn (20.32 percent).
The defence budget figures for last year have been revised. The original allocation for FY2020-21 was Rs1.29 trillion, which has been increased to Rs1.33 trillion.
