Pakistan reveals defence spending

[t-birds]

By Haroon Rashid
BBC Urdu service, Islamabad

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Pakistan reveals defence spending

The military has kept a lid for years on how it spends its money
Pakistan's newly-elected civilian government has decided to make the country's defence budget public for the first time in 40 years.

Defence spending for the year 2008-2009 is set at 302.5bn rupees ($4.5bn), an increase of 7% but below inflation.

It is the first time defence spending has been publicised since 1965 when war with India led to it being classified.

Pakistan and India have been arch-rivals in the subcontinent since it was partitioned in 1947.

'Into the open'

Details of defence expenditure were announced in Wednesday's budget session of parliament.

The government set the defence budget at 296bn rupees - an increase of 7% and down from 11% last year.

This figure excludes 5bn rupees for defence development and 1.5bn rupees for defence production.

The decrease in real terms in defence expenditure and its declassification was announced by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani in parliament a few days ago.

"We will support the decision to bring the defence budget into the open," Omar Ayub, former finance minister and leader of the opposition PML-Q party, told the BBC.

"However disguising some of the funds as everyday expenses to protect strategic plans should be permissable."

Army consent

Experts say the Pakistan army has been willing in the past to reveal what it spends on fuel and salaries.

But, they say, it is not so willing to come clean about its purchase of arms and other equipment worth billions of rupees.

In the past, several cases regarding kickbacks and misuse of funds have come to light in these transactions.

However, this time the government says the budget details are being presented with the consent of present army chief Gen Ashfaq Kiyani and the defence secretary.

Naveed Qamar, Pakistan's finance minister, admitted that no all details were not presented in the first budget session.

But, he insisted that they would be made available before the budget was debated in parliament.

The PPP and the PML-N, the major partners in Pakistan's current government, had made it a major issue in their Charter of Democracy agreement.

Pakistan's defence budget has often been the subject of criticism due to non-accountability.

That may decline due to the new mechanism, but the demand for greater transparency remains.

 

[mujahideen]

Well I am all for Defence spending being revealed as long as national interests are kept in mind.

 

[araz]

I think we areall in agreement that Defence Budget should be brought up in parlianment, barring specific details of National importance. Iwould go to the extent of saying that the buying of armaments should have a team of Parliamentarians/Public accountants make sure that all the financial dealings are straight forward. However, given Armies power in our society, it is unlikely to happen in the next few years.
Araz

 

[Interceptor]

Its move that should have been done long ago, but hell it happened now, the Parliament is ensuring it is supreme. There has been corruption cases of military on over spending on other person items, the recent case that came up was the PAF buying 40.000 acres of land for JF-17 firing range, when Baluchi Government has had reservations on the way it is being used for person gains.

I think the salaries of Generals should be lowered as well a million dollar per general is way to high, and it is time to take measures.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I think the salaries of Generals should be lowered as well a million dollar per general is way to high, and it is time to take measures.

The salary of a General is a Million dollars per year?

 

[mujahideen]

I think the salaries of Generals should be lowered as well a million dollar per general is way to high, and it is time to take measures.

I dont know man if their salary is a milion dollars. And if it is then it should be lowered.

 

[kidwaibhai]

what an absurd statement. what sources do you have that tells you that the salaries of generals in the pakistani army is a million dollar each

 

[Flintlock]

Isn't the payscale of the army public information?

 

[nitesh]

Its move that should have been done long ago, but hell it happened now, the Parliament is ensuring it is supreme. There has been corruption cases of military on over spending on other person items, the recent case that came up was the PAF buying 40.000 acres of land for JF-17 firing range, when Baluchi Government has had reservations on the way it is being used for person gains.

I think the salaries of Generals should be lowered as well a million dollar per general is way to high, and it is time to take measures.

a million dollar per general, sir ji it is too much. But what it is CTC [cost to company(Pakistan Army)] or the gross pay?

 

[Tang0]

The highest possible salary for a US 4 star general with 40+ years serving is
$173000. That is quite a tidy sum of money, but I would imagine that PA generals make about the same when ajusted for PPP(Purchasing Power Parity). So...Complete off-the-wall guess...Something like $50,000?


EDIT:
According to Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha the net worth of a Pakistani major general is about 300 millions rs. which translates to about 4.5 million dollars.
I have no idea how reputable she is, here is where I found the info....Kinda sketchy to say the least.
The Glasshouse: Pakistan Army's Multimillionaires

 

[Myth_buster_1]

The highest possible salary for a US 4 star general with 40+ years serving is
$173000. That is quite a tidy sum of money, but I would imagine that PA generals make about the same when ajusted for PPP(Purchasing Power Parity). So...Complete off-the-wall guess...Something like $50,000?


EDIT:
According to Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha the net worth of a Pakistani major general is about 300 millions rs. which translates to about 4.5 million dollars.
I have no idea how reputable she is, here is where I found the info....Kinda sketchy to say the least.
The Glasshouse: Pakistan Army's Multimillionaires

are you pakistani? but no i smell another indian behind American flag!
do you seriously think that they are making hundreds of millions of dollars??
sometime people need to comprehend the fact with their own brains!

 

[Tang0]

Note the fact that I mentioned it was from a "Sketchy" source. And that is a "net worth" I.E all land and investments sold at current market value. I have no idea what they are really making, as that information is difficult to find. My estimation for a salary was something in the $50,000 range, nowhere near the 1,000,000 proposed earlier by a purported Pakistani.

Also, are you using dollars and rs interchangeably? A million rupees makes sense, a million dollars is ridiculous. I say this because I hear subcontinentals in the US use the term "Bucks" for rupees, while "Bucks" is originally American slang for dollars. This makes for confusion. I.E ("That car costs 3 million Bucks! "Whaaat?!")

 

[Interceptor]

The salary of a General is a Million dollars per year?

Yep, its not classified, its in black and white.

 

[Interceptor]

Isn't the payscale of the army public information?

Not really in Pakistan, a army servicemen can take positions in civilian government as well, without check's and balances there is no real end to how deep their salaries are, but Honorable CoAS Kiyani saab has called back all army personnel. Its interesting what you can pick up from "Military Inc." (I placed a quote however I feel there is better one so Ill post it later on.)

 

[Interceptor]

The GHQ sought legal and constitutional provisions to establish its
position in the power equation. The legal framework allowed the armed forces
a permanent place in power politics as an equal member that was not
dependent on the civilian authorities for the protection of its core interests.
This is what was referred to in Chapter 1 as the parent-guardian military type.
Under this arrangement, the armed forces no longer remained an instrument of
policy but acted as an equal partner in decision making, Furthermore, they
could determine the security and internal stability of the state without
constantly remaining in the political forefront. The military fraternity had
developed sufficient economic stakes to not want a permanent exit from power.
These interests, in fact, demanded that the class protect them through legal
institutional mechanisms, even at the cost of democratic norms and practices.
It is clear that the process of institutionalization, as has been argued in
here, could not have taken place without a commonality of interests with

Page 83

This chapter starts on "Evolution of the military
class, 1977-2005"