Pakistan's defence budget hiked by 6 pct

The budget was hiked even at a time when people are struggling due to rise in fuel prices.

The budget has been hiked  in a bid to meet the needs of the armed forces, including their enhanced salary requirements.

The decision to increase the defence budget by another Rs80 billion was taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet that in total approved Rs182 billion in supplementary grants, The Express Tribune reported.

The ECC also approved slapping a 10% regulatory duty on the import of petrol from China to curb the misuse of bilateral free trade agreement. Some oil marketing firms rerouted their imports through China to evade 10% customs duties.

The Ministry of Defence had demanded an additional Rs80 billion defence budget for “critical shortfalls” in addition to making adjustments in the budget for spending on the Jinnah Naval base, the Naval Base Turbat and multi-functional office building in the headquarters, the newspaper reported.

Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail presided over the ECC meeting that approved Rs80 billion supplementary budget for the armed forces or to the extent of the actual additional expenditures being incurred.