Pakistan’s defence expenditures may exceed the budgetary allocation of Rs343 billion by about 20 per cent during the current fiscal year because of the military operation against militants.
The expenditures were estimated to be somewhere between Rs400 billion and Rs410 billion, up by around Rs70 billion against the allocation of Rs343 billion.
The security expenditures had gone beyond Rs40 billion a month much more than the average monthly expenditures.
The security-related expenditures in Waziristan were much higher than during the operation in Swat.
Last year, an amount of Rs296 billion was allocated in budget for defence. This was, however, twice revised upwards, first to Rs311 billion and then to Rs329 billion, up by 11 per cent over the budget estimates.
The security expenditures were higher than expected. Because of higher than estimated expenditures, the revenue target for the current year has increased from Rs1,380 billion to Rs1,396 billion.
Receivables from the United States under the coalition support fund currently stood at $1.4 billion that would reach $2.4 billion by June 2010.
The government was expecting to get about $500 million in about a month.
Pakistan is expectng to get about $874 million during the current fiscal year. Energy-related expenditures had also been higher than anticipated.
Filed under: Economy, Pakistan Tagged: | Defense Spending in Pakistan, Pakistan, War on Terror
