Defence was allocated Rs 1.15 trillion for 2019-20 against Rs 1.13 trillion in the revised estimates of 2018-19 reflecting a raise of 1.3 percent well below the projected inflation of between 11 to 13 percent next year. The Chief of Army Staff recently announced that the army would voluntarily take a cut in budgeted allocation but had added that while officers would not get a pay raise this did not apply to the jawans.
The budget does not include several other allocations for the military, including Rs 327 billion for pensions, which is 77 percent of the federal government's total pension bill, as well as Rs 53 billion budgeted for security enhancement, and Rs 2.15 billion for development purposes and other supplementary grants. The expenditure incurred on the country's nuclear and missile programme and expenditure incurred on the UN missions abroad are also not included.
Out of Rs 1.15 trillion the maximum allocated amount (39 percent) is budgeted for employee-related expenses at Rs 450 billion. This covers salaries and allowances paid to troops in uniform and civilian employees. Operating expenses which cover transport, POL (Petroleum, oil and lubricants), rations, medical treatment, training etc, have been budgeted at Rs 264 billion.
Rs 315 billion has been proposed for physical assets utilized for local purchases and import of arms and ammunition and related procurements. Civil works that include funds marked for maintenance of existing infrastructure and construction of new buildings have been budgeted at Rs 123 billion.
The decision by Pakistan's armed forces not to seek any increase in military spending for the coming fiscal year is an acknowledgment of the mounting economic challenges that have forced Pakistan to seek an IMF for a new loan, sources in the military told Business Recorder.