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| India-Pakistan | |
| Pakistan set to raise defence budget by 16 percent | |
| 2009-05-24 | |
ISLAMABAD: The federal government is all set to raise the allocation for defence services by around 16.27 percent in the forthcoming budget for 2009-10, official sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
According to the sources, the Ministry of Finance had been requested to allocate Rs 351 billion for defence in the forthcoming budget. However, keeping in view the overall economic situation of the country, the ministry approved Rs 343 billion for defence for the year, the officials said. The sources said that between Rs 1.7 billion and 2 billion would be added in the overall defence allocations for meeting the expenses of the civil administration in the Defence Ministry. The armed forces would be required to manage the expenditures of their engagements in Swat as well as other areas within the proposed allocation of Rs 343 billion, despite the fact that Pakistani rupee has lost its value by over 30 percent due to depreciation against the US dollar in the April-July period and inflation that is currently estimated at 22.35 percent, the official sources said. Stretched: It would be difficult for the armed forces to acquire new weapons in the upcoming year, as imports would become costlier due to the devaluation of the rupee. The country has already entered into a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund standby arrangement and the Finance Ministry has been trying to keep each of its expense heads within manageable limits while preparing the upcoming budget, the sources added. | |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 Gee, the same could be said of India and the Soviets. Or the Pakis could have their agenda and are manipulating the Americans and Chinese to gt what they want. And the Americans and Chinese are doing the same. And all three value what they have to offer differently, creating a market for intrigue if you will. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-05-24 13:48 |
| #1 Pakistan is a proxy of the Chinese, and China is efficiently playing Pakistan to keep NATO bleeding in Afghanistan, militarily and economically. Pakistan has been milking the US of billions of dollars, while pretending to fight terrorists. The western nations, and particularly the US, have a long history of generously pumping money into Pakistan, to get their (dirty) jobs done by the Pakistan. The proposed 9.1 billions will end up, being just another boost to Pakistan, encouraging Pakistan to divert their own resources for terror and nuclear proliferation related activities. |
| Posted by: neel288 2009-05-24 13:38 |