Pakistan's defence expenditure in the next financial year will be around 7 per cent higher than it was in the outgoing year to Rs920.2 billion, the government announced in Friday's Budget 2017-18 speech.
The PML-N government's total budget outlay for 2017-18, possibly its last year in power, was Rs4.75tr, out of which 19.36pc has been kept aside under the Defence Affairs and Services head.
The operating expenses for the armed forces have been allocated Rs225.5bn, while almost Rs322bn will be sent on salaries and renumeration. The armed forces will get Rs244bn for 'physical assets' and Rs128.35bn for 'civil works'.
The government will separately pay nearly Rs180bn in pensions to retired military officials and jawans. This does not count in the budget allocated to defence services.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in Parliament, also announced a 10pc increase in the pay of all armed forced personnel as a 'special allowance' in recognition for their sacrifices in the ongoing conflicts across the country.
"I announce today that a 10pc will be given on the pay of all officers and jawans as special allowance. This allowance will be in addition to the increase in pay that will be announced," Dar said as he presented the Federal Budget 2017-18.
The Frontier Constabulary's jawans will also be given a fixed allowance of Rs8,000 per month, the government said. The special allowance and the fixed allowance are both separate from the defence budget.
The 'special allowance' was also topped up with a 10pc ad hoc increase in salaries for army personnel, along with other government employees.
Dar additionally said during his budget speech said the National Security Committee had recommended that 3pc of the provinces' Gross Divisible Pool should also be allocated to defence expenditures; however, the provinces have yet to get on board with this proposal.
"Large operations like Zarb-i-Azb require vast sums. This is our national duty against terrorism for which provision of resources is the responsibility of the entire nation," Dar urged during his Friday budget speech.
The government will also be launching a new scheme through the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) for the welfare of families of martyrs.
Under this scheme, a guaranteed and enhanced profit will be given as a means of support for martyrs' families.
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Comments (93) Closed
May 26, 2017 10:48pm
Yes, indeed Sir. The poor and illiterate lot deserve the best weapons for their survival..
Though one F-16 could possible educate a million kids for year. The plane may be retired in ten years for a new model. But the poor young man by then will be seeking refuge in Europe and begging for food and clothing.
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May 26, 2017 10:58pm
We need more defense spending like we deserve another term of PML-N led corrupt government. Both are unjustified, unwarranted and undesired.
This country has no chance of making any progress if larger and larger slice of the pie is gobbled up by defense and military hardware, while neglecting the most basics of needs of the public - education, healthcare,clean drinking water, power, jobs and opportunities for the new generation. Investment in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - are crucial in the 21st century for any country to compete globally. Otherwise, you might as well just rely on exporting cotton and mangoes only.
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May 27, 2017 12:17am
Our men deserve this. They ask for nothing in return for the sweat and blood they shed in the defence of Pakistan. It is heartening to note the new financing scheme for the immediate families of all uniformed personnel including Police and FC.
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May 27, 2017 12:20am
Indophobia is killing our economy, children and their future.
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May 27, 2017 12:34am
Good job.
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May 27, 2017 12:36am
People crying about increase in defence spending are completely oblivious to the geo strategic situation of south asia. We can't have zero defence spending, I hope they agree to that. And given that our armed forces have achieved so much in these years it's only fair to boost their morale by giving some extrinsic motivation.
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May 27, 2017 01:03am
2016-17 defence expenditure: Pakistan-$8bn, Bangladesh-$3bn.
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May 27, 2017 01:17am
Total amount allocated for defense : 225.5 + 322 + 244 + 128.35 + 180 = 1099.85 billions, which is 23.15% of the total budget. If you add the amount paid for loan repayments then you will realize there is hardly any money left for anything else.There is another important point, there will be 10% increase in salaries for defense personnel, not sure if that is separate or if it is included in above figure.
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May 27, 2017 01:23am
Safety and security comes first, and then comes education and business and jobs. PAkistan should be spending more on defence. Its enemies are spending 10 times more.
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May 27, 2017 01:40am
Education 90 defense 900+. Future is clear.
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May 27, 2017 01:52am
It is a huge sum of money. I have no problem with the allocation of this budget. But I do have a problem that nobody in the civilian admnistration has the right to question or audit this budget.
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May 27, 2017 02:05am
Am I right in understanding that defense budget is around 20% of he total budget? Defense budget Is 920 billion out of 4750 billion.
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May 27, 2017 02:25am
More than 20% of the budget spending is on defence. This is crazy. No country can improve if 20% of its spending is on defence.
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May 27, 2017 03:13am
Given the multifaceted threats that Pakistan faces, I think it should increase its budget by at least 30%. Belligerent countries like India, Afghanistan, Iran and a whole lot of militant groups operating within the country, military spending should be the primary focus. Added security for CPEC and special security for the Chinese, demands defence spending.
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May 27, 2017 03:42am
@Skeptic If all the poor seeks refuge in the west, Pakistani government will save money for their health and education. Not a bad idea after all.
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May 27, 2017 04:06am
@Mahmood
Good to see at least some government care about the defense of country, and its enlisted Javans and officers. This is the only way country can be defended from external threats.
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May 27, 2017 04:20am
Spending on Education is Rs90bn and spending on the military is Rs900bn - 10 times more. As a nation, you have 2 immediate security issues - being invaded for which you have a nuclear deterrent and terrorism which is typically does not require expensive high tech military hardware. The terrorism challenge is also affected by the lack of education and job opportunities. Surely more spending on education would have more long term benefits. It is interesting in the UK spending on education is twice the spending on defense and not ten times less as in Pakistan. What could be more patriotic then investing in your children?
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May 27, 2017 05:02am
When civilians will get extra for maintaining luxurious lifestyle of our Generals for the last 50 years
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May 27, 2017 05:14am
Why? Are you so afraid of armed forces ? Don't you think education and health are most important?
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May 27, 2017 05:22am
20% on defense and only 2% for education. This is insane.
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May 27, 2017 05:44am
If Defence outlay is 20% of total budget outlay, how do you expect the country to develop?
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May 27, 2017 06:03am
I completely agree with both previous posters, but here is another thought.
Amongst arabs, Iraq and Syria had the highest number of indigenous doctors, engineers and scientists. Look at those countries today.
Peace through strenght!
Unless Pakistan is able to maintain minimum credible deterrence to external threats (and simultaneously deal with internal ones), she will end up like Iraq and Syria. One only has to look at the lack of world reaction towards Indian claims of surgical strikes into Pakistan. Whether India did strike or not is beside the point, but no one criticised them for (even claiming to) violate the sovereignty of another country.
If people want a strong and well developed Pakistan, then they should start saying no to corruption, start paying taxes and elect people who could make a difference to Pakistan (not those who could do them personal favours). That is when most will earn the right to criticise defence spending for a force laying down its lives for them.
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May 27, 2017 06:04am
With special allowances included and also including the state level 3% - the total defence budget exceeds 25% of the total national spending. Education on the other hand is just 2%
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May 27, 2017 06:05am
What about sacrifies from common man ? What will families of common pakistani gets who lost their life ?
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May 27, 2017 06:23am
20 % of total budget.I think this is the highest in the world.
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May 27, 2017 06:40am
This is really appreciative.
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May 27, 2017 06:40am
Our Armed forces deserve more than this.
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May 27, 2017 06:56am
defending against aggressor countries is our top most priority and of course making sampler neighbouring countries see our way of life also. so if this defense spending increase to 30 percent it is good.
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May 27, 2017 06:58am
Thank you govt for good budget this time
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May 27, 2017 07:08am
Not accepted ..we need 30%.
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May 27, 2017 07:27am
What about the Welfare budget?
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May 27, 2017 07:36am
The requirement of spending on education does not mean that we need to cut on our defence budget. It must also be noted that this defence budget is not limited to military assets and their operational expense but its also used directly for public health and education in shape of APS and CMH.
Most of you might not be aware that these schools and hospitals that are located in areas such as Pano Aqil, Zoab, Khuzdaar, BWP, FATA, Ormara, the list goes on, are providing with free health care and education to the needy people of their surroundings.
Do spend on education and in my point of view it should be more than defence budget but don't put the blame on defence forces for less allocated funds for education.
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May 27, 2017 08:39am
Wish peace and harmony in South Asia. That may make more money to alleviate poverty in a region that was most prosperous for long.
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May 27, 2017 08:50am
That is USD 8 Billion.
Compare that to India which is USD 55 Billion. That is like cost of one CPEC for a years budget.
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May 27, 2017 08:51am
Sacrifices!!!! Please note that pensions are included in civilian budget and not in defence budget.
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May 27, 2017 09:12am
@Shan That is 2.5 % of total budget.Pakistan has 20 % of total budget.
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May 27, 2017 09:13am
@Shan Yes so India's defense budget is 7 times Pakistan while tax collected is 16 times Pakistan. Hence India is able to allocate much more as a percentage of budget towards education, health and infrastructure than Pakistan.
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May 27, 2017 09:26am
our defence budget should be minimum 50 billion dollars in order to stay strong in front of the world.
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May 27, 2017 09:35am
According to the Budget:
The development expenditure=Rs1.001tr
The defence budget =Rs920.2bn
Education: 90.52
Need one say more ?
Start investing in Development+Education more and you wont need a defence budget close to 1 Trillion for Defence. Stop creating the eco system for Jihadis and extremists by spending more in Development and education.
But we know it wont happen cause the real power center (defence) will keep grabbing the most of budget in the name of inflated threat perceptions.
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May 27, 2017 10:00am
Interesting to know if defence pensions are included in this. As far as I remember, they have been 'included' in civil pension budgets.
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May 27, 2017 10:16am
@LAFANGA
And then ... if 50 billions dollars for defence, how to other activities of the country - education, development, community support etc.
If you have x dollars in total, then (x- defence budget) is left for other activities.
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May 27, 2017 10:19am
Army deserve more than this I've a friend from South Waziristan and he was telling me that in 2014 when they moved to temporary camps due to operation against terrorists everything was destroyed and now since the area has been cleared army is building schools,hospitals etc all by themselves government is doing absolutely nothing for them media will never show the development which the army is doing in tribal areas
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May 27, 2017 10:25am
Defense budget is almost 20% of total GDP ( excluding hundred millions of defense aid from US to Pakistan ). Is this ok for a country where 85% people don't have access to clean drinking water & 40% people below poverty line ?
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May 27, 2017 10:32am
@al Other countries are also spending 100 times of education . Education budget of India for yr 2017-18 was $12.5 billion. For Pakistan it is only $ 0.8 billion.
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May 27, 2017 10:36am
@Liahoskan WAZIR Education 90 defense 900+. Future is clear.
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May 27, 2017 10:38am
@LAFANGA
my friend , do you know he real meaning of 50 billion dollars ?
I am sure that u don't .
this amount is almost equivalent to the so called CPEC every year .
you really think that iron brother is going to give that much loan amount every year .
defence is crucial that's true
it's very crucial
but it's also important to develop all other sectors too
it's like running a household
you have to take care of everything and keep an eye on your income too
all the best and regards from across the borider
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May 27, 2017 10:38am
@Shan India also spending $ 12.5 billion for education . % wise Pakistan spending 2% on education & India spending 3.8% .
Why don't you compare that figure also ?
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May 27, 2017 10:38am
So the thinking is. ' We will protect you from India, at all cost. Even if you starve to death for lack of food, water and medicine.'
Please vote for this government again. We deserve such brain boxes.
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May 27, 2017 10:39am
This budget is the biggest scam in the world..
Total defense force strength 1 million approx (including reserve)
Total population of the country 195 million +- 5 million
Spending 25% of the budget on less than 1% of the population is absurd.
We very well know how the remaining 75% will be spent.
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May 27, 2017 11:00am
920 billion is not a bad deal for what the country gets in return. Counter insurgency ops; help in law & order like in Karachi; floods/earthquake relief; intelligence ops; drought relief; border protection and of course normal military role viz India. We live in a tough neighbourhood and keeping military strong is not a choice but a necessity. In short we still get good value for money.
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May 27, 2017 11:33am
Does the PM need to give 10% special allowance to stay in power ?
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May 27, 2017 11:40am
@LAFANGA and keeping new generation uneducated and jaheel and feel proud in front of the world.
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May 27, 2017 11:44am
Fact is that they deserve more than that, we slept calmly because of our Amred Forces!
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May 27, 2017 11:50am
I think it shouldn't be taken as a sign of negativity. Few things are necessary evils. We have to keep ourselves safe as well as educate our kids. So we make budgets to give appropriate portions of these as per the requirements. The issue in Pakistan however, is that those portions are not utilized properly and we see as much as 90% corruption sometimes in the utilization of these funds.
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May 27, 2017 11:54am
How much allocated for causing mayhem in neighboring countries?
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May 27, 2017 12:00pm
@XYZ - What a thought process!!!
I'm sure millions of poor, starving, uneducated kids around this country, also sleep soundly at night, in the comfort that only the Nukes are keeping them alive. Who needs food, water, clothing, shelter or education to live??
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May 27, 2017 12:14pm
Now just for second imagine both India and Pakistan love each other. Defense budget expenses goes down for both nations, trade brings massive income for both, love heals the wounds from the past. Love of 1.5 plus billion people that is a lot healing. Above all a prosperous future for both brothers, we are the same people with 5000 plus history no other nation can say that about India, but Pakistan.
I'm you and you are me. One beautiful IndoPak family. Que samgh aie baat meri :)
Love to all from the Sindhu Dharti Maa :) May the wind from Sind spread peace to all the children of the Indus Valley land :)
IndoPak Blood Brothers 4 Life!
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May 27, 2017 12:52pm
It was a regular practice of all the Ceasers of Italy , to keep the legions under thumb , they would throw bucket of gold coins to its members .
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May 27, 2017 12:58pm
Does the PM need to give 10% special allowance to stay in power ?
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May 27, 2017 01:00pm
It is good to hear that pensioners are getting 10% rise this year too.It has been noticed that in private corporate sector like banks where pension is being paid but there is no rise matching with inflation.Specially UBL(UNITED BANK LTD) has never increased the pension to their ex employees from the date of commencement of the pension.This can be verified from the UBL management.Government must pass a law to force private entities to increase pension matching with inflation and standard living with past arrears.Thanks.
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May 27, 2017 01:19pm
@al If a nation has millions of unemployed and hungry, it needs no other enemy.
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May 27, 2017 01:25pm
@gogo Have you been listening to how the native populations in the West, including the previous emigres, are turning against so called refugees from our nations? Will not be long before there is serious diplomatic fall out, sanctions etc to force them back.
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May 27, 2017 01:34pm
@Justice Perhaps he thinks with such a strong defence, World will look after the rest for Pakistan's ordinary citizens.
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May 27, 2017 01:38pm
@sid Given the larger population, it is risible that India is spending under 4% for education, nothing to crow about.
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May 27, 2017 02:03pm
this money could be used for education, water, electricity, food, housing for the millions of poor people in pakistan...
why does poor country like pakistan spend so much on defence....shame
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May 27, 2017 02:17pm
This budget shows a group of corrupt politicians causing the nation to sink. The defence budget is 900bn and health is 59bn!! As a nation what are we trying to achieve with this budget??
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May 27, 2017 02:20pm
80% of Pakistanis don't have clean drinking water, load shedding is at an all time high and we buy guns?
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May 27, 2017 02:21pm
to every body is here criticizing the defense budget especially the neighbor who idk why are so worried about our poor.....the threats Pakistan face today the defense budget is right.....if the gov (you chose this gov) spends the allocated education budget sincerely this is more than enough......also the people who are aware with the education sector in Pakistan know that there are now more than enough schools but the children are least bothered in studies......also dear neighbor please please stop being obsessed with Pakistan and worry about your country
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May 27, 2017 03:27pm
@Skeptic Approximately 19% of the budget is allocated to defence which includes the air force, navy and armed forces personnel. You sound like they've been given carte blanche. With the ongoing modernization of military hardware everywhere in the world and the continuous engagement of our armed forces on both external and internal fronts of this country, I think it has become essential for us to do whatever is necessary to maintain the balance of power. What is with the brouhaha?
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May 27, 2017 03:29pm
All the Indians on this page are burnt by seeing our defence spending and are suggesting to spend more on other things. We know their designs.
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May 27, 2017 03:32pm
@SID Wrong defence is only 0.3% of GDP which is miniscule. 900 million out of 300 billion is 0.3%.
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May 27, 2017 03:34pm
@THiru I don't know about Pakistan, But in India education is mainly funded by state governments and they allocate anywhere between 5 to 20% depending upon the state. Federal budget is mainly to cover central universities and federal government sponsored programs like SSA and skill development etc.. But I think it should be increased to 5 to 6% of total budget.
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May 27, 2017 03:39pm
@LAFANGA The total budget for the country is around 42 billion usd. Sorry, your comments are not correct based on the reality.
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May 27, 2017 03:44pm
@Aaqib Dude it is $9 billion, even if you consider your GDP as $300 billion, it comes to 3% of total GDP.
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May 27, 2017 03:48pm
The way the allocation of financial resources to the defence is going, very soon all of the national budget may end up there leaving the people living in the stone age!
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May 27, 2017 04:10pm
The reason why budget allocation for health/education seems disproportionately lower than defence is because the former come under provincial jurisdiction whilst the latter is largely federal responsibility.
In order to get the real health/education figures, you have to add all provincial and federal figures, and the sum is much higher than what people have been complaining about.
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May 27, 2017 04:18pm
@M. AsGhar
I have absolutely no link to Pakistan armed services, but if you compare the overall defence allocation as percentage of budget, the downward trend has been clear for years. In other words, defence allocation is gobbling less and less of total budget.
It is amazing to see how Pakistanis want all done to western standard but most not paying any direct tax. In Pakistan, tax to GDP ratio is around 10%. Now compare that with France (around 58%) or Canada (around 85%). These figures are from memory and so may not be 100% accurate but they would be pretty close.
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May 27, 2017 04:39pm
Why 10% special allowance, its their duty to guard the borders and fight for homeland.
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May 27, 2017 05:45pm
3/4 of Pakistan budget is spend on defence in spite of spending on health and education. Why not make more effort on normalising friendship with our neighbouring countries but why would an institution do that when it is benefiting them. it's been 45 years when Pakistan fought war with India and yet the defence budget is increased every year. The civilian government is unable to act on it for reason best known.
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May 27, 2017 06:14pm
@Gerry dcunha
3/4? Really?
It is less than 20% with provincial allocation and development funds taking approximately 2/3.
As for 'making friendship with neighbours', I absolutely agree. But that should not come at the expense of your defence needs. With all due respect, $9 bil is peanuts for a country like Pakistan and the threats faced by her.
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May 27, 2017 06:22pm
@TAhir
Every country makes special provisions for their soldiers. It is easy to criticise the soldiers. How about an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis who pay no direct taxes and want all the perks of a western society including good education and health. Do they deserve it?
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May 27, 2017 08:21pm
Close to a trillion rupees, if you include the extras. The defence budget has gone up by some 50% in four years, going by the graph. Inflation would not even be half of that.
Similar insanity in India, of course. Only God can help the subcontinent.
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May 27, 2017 09:29pm
@Shan and that too it's just 2.7% of total economy.
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May 28, 2017 07:42am
we spend more on defence and less on education. then we create uneducated mass which will turn terrorists. then we will increase our defence budget, and the story goes on and on...
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May 28, 2017 01:35pm
@Mahmood defence sectors will too create jobs unless Chinese should not sell their ready-made military products to Pakistan.
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May 28, 2017 01:39pm
8000 PKR as allowance for jawans. In India if a engineer with bachelors degree clear GATE exam, he will get a monthly stipend of 12000 INR (app. 16,500 PKR).
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May 28, 2017 02:20pm
@29States yes it is 300billion this year it was few millions + than 300b$ the 3% defense budget is rightly allocated the challenges we face today it is not enough if one is being honest
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May 28, 2017 04:17pm
@Skeptic Kudos to you for a hard hitting comments.
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May 28, 2017 04:58pm
A country can be drowned under the weight of defence spending. Pakistan seem to be making progress toward it.
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May 28, 2017 10:59pm
In layman's terms taking the the food out of the millions starving mouths to pass it to thousands full bellies in order to keep the latters possibly off the Parliament Complex. Let's see to what exten in terms of linearity the Big Brother imitates this Role Model even though his full ballies, culturally, have always prefered to remain in barracks rather than loitering around Parliament Complexes.
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May 29, 2017 02:16am
Our country needs to be protected aswell and it is disheartening to see comments regarding anti spending on defense. If we don't have a formidable defense against our external and internal enemies then we will not have a vibrant society or economy. It is only right the defense budget increases with a growing GDP. And anyway don't we think our formidable army deserve extra for laying down their lives in the defense of Pakistan!?
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May 29, 2017 03:23am
ever since I came to my 'senses' I have seen defence budget in billions, but always wonder where it goes? how it is spent? where is the transparency? all smoke and mirror, Govt don't have money to fix basics, like jobs, electricity, water and other infrastructure, but they always have billions in defence spending every year!! I guess defence lobby still going strong.
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May 29, 2017 07:57am
Rs 290 Billion for military.
How much for Education and Health Care?
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