Pakistan’s (nonsensical) defense budget – Defense News

Bhartendu Kumar Singh

Pakistan is clearly a powerful military nation given its geographic size and population: it ranks 9th in military strength on the globalfirepower.com website, despite being 46th in GDP size and having a per capita income of $1,680 in 2024 (much lower than Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and India). BangladeshGenerous budgetary allocations (often at the cost of neglecting other important sectors) have helped Pakistan in the past to be recognised as a military and nuclear power. The massive 17.6 percent increase in Pakistan’s defence budget (24-25) announced a few days ago is merely a continuation of the pampering of the Pakistani military for the first time in several years.

When the SIPRI fact sheet “Trends in Global Military Expenditures in 2023” was released in April this year, it gave the impression that Pakistan was holding back on its defense budget. Pakistan’s 10-year growth rate in defense spending was only 13%, impressive by any standards. It was supposed to spend $8.5 billion in 2023-24. Its global ranking in defense spending dropped from 24th in 2022-23 to 30th in 2023-24. Now that Pakistan’s defense budget for 2024-25 has gone up, Pakistani strategic experts may have ready excuses at the ready: the Indian threat, the unrest in Afghanistan, etc. front etc.

Pakistan may be a respectable military power, but when its defense budget utilization pattern is scrutinized, it masks emptiness. Firstly, Pakistan has an underdeveloped domestic Military Industrial Complex (MIC) except for nuclear and missile technologies. There is not a single Pakistani company among the top 100 arms manufacturers. The defense production business is totally militarized and the fate of most arms companies is decided by the generals. For instance, the Pakistan Ordnance Factory Board (POF) in Wakha district is always headed by an active military officer. As are most of the 14 manufacturing units. Together, they supply the domestic market and export around $100 million abroad. But their performance is far below the potential.

Second, Pakistan has always had a high share of arms imports and is now the fifth-largest arms importer in the world. According to the SIPRI fact sheet “Trends in International Arms Transfers 2023” released in March 2024, Pakistan accounted for 2.9% of global arms imports from 2014 to 2019, rising to 4.3% from 2019 to 2023. Pakistan imports almost half of India’s despite having only one-tenth of India’s defense budget. Given its unstable foreign exchange reserves, high imports put a strain on other sectors.

Third, Pakistan’s arms imports are completely monopolized by China. According to SIPRI estimates, 82% of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2019-23 came from China, compared to 69% in 2014-18 and 51% in 2009-13. Pakistan may see these rising figures as a testament to its friendly relations with China, but it also means that Pakistan has not been able to diversify its imports and does not have an import substitution policy. Imported weapons are just making its military a hollow force due to poor supply chain logistics. In times of war or crisis, there will be disruptions. In Pakistan’s case, there is also the issue of inferior weapons supplied by China not being well received in other parts of the world.

Fourth, Pakistan maintains a large military given its geographic size and population. Pakistan’s military is the seventh largest in the world, with approximately 650,000 active-duty troops, nearly half that of India’s. Unlike many other countries, Pakistan’s military remains stuck in its colonial mold and resists reform. Pakistan’s garrison-state status means that external reforms in other countries’ militaries are not easily accepted or emulated. As a result, Pakistan spends the majority of its defense budget on salaries and maintenance.

Pakistani generals are the biggest culprits in scathing criticism of the reality of Pakistan’s so-called military power. They are a “state within a state”. For Pakistani youth, a career in the army is considered a dream job. Though they themselves live a lavish life, Thanks to generous government subsidies, they don’t care much about Pakistan’s desperate defense economy either during or after their service.For example, Pakistan’s Military Accountant General (MAG), despite being a civilian officer, is under the complete control of the generals in Rawalpindi. He is placed quite low in the pecking order at 19th, while even a Brigadier General is placed 15th above him. Thus, the MAG is unable to perform accounting or auditing functions independently. As a result, the entire military accounting and auditing system in Pakistan is in disarray.

The inefficiency of the MAG has allowed the generals to make a mess of the defense budget. Transparency International has classified Pakistan’s defense budget in the “least transparent” category. Many aspects of Pakistan’s defense budget are opaque. For example, defense pensions amount to 31% of the defense budget and are kept separate from the defense budget as a private sector budget. This amount will soon exceed what is manageable. There is also a very high level of corruption. Defense budget funds are often diverted to numerous companies run by and for the Pakistani military. Pakistani defense economist Aisha Siddiqa calls these thriving organizations “Mirvas” and they have resisted all attempts at reform so far.

The ongoing economic crisis was an opportunity for Pakistan’s generals to get back on track by capping the defense budget until things calm down and the economy improves. But these self-serving generals don’t care about Pakistan, or any of its other pressing economic problems, for that matter. Unfortunately, Pakistanis have no way of escaping these generals who are parasites on public money and thrive in perpetuity. Perhaps they will just have to wait for some reforms in Pakistan’s defense economy to come into fruition in order to optimize Pakistan’s defense budget.

The author is with the Indian Defence Accountancy Service.

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