Pakistan government budget approval: Pakistan approves an additional PKR 5,000 crore budget for its armed forces

The Pakistan government has approved a PKR 50 billion (approximately Rs 1,576.73 crore) supplementary budget for the armed forces to strengthen security at international borders, upgrade naval bases, and continue protecting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet made the decision at a meeting held on Tuesday, PTI reports.

The additional PKRs50 billion is over and above the PKRs 2,550 billion crores allocated as the defence budget for the year 2025-26, announced by the government in June. India’s defence budget for 2025-26 is over INR. 6.81 lakh crore.

The ECC meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, reviewed proposals related to national security, defence, food security, and petroleum sector reforms. According to the supplementary paper, PKR 39 billion has been allocated to the military and approximately PKR 11 billion to the navy.

“The ECC approved a summary from the Defence Division, granting a technical supplementary grant of PKR 50 billion for various approved Defence Services projects,” the Finance Ministry said. These funds are allocated annually for projects outside the regular defence budget. Last fiscal year, the ECC had approved PKR 45 billion for similar initiatives.

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Allocations for special security divisions

The ECC approved PKR 19 billion for the Special Security Division South, marking a 19 percent increase over the previous year. The division is responsible for protecting foreign commercial interests in southern regions. Another PKR 8 billion was allocated for the Special Security Division North, which safeguards these interests in northern areas, equal to last year’s allocation.

Other defence and internal security allocations

The committee approved PKR 9.9 billion for internal security duty allowance, maintaining last year’s spending level. An amount of PKR 2 billion was allocated for fencing along the international borders with Afghanistan and Iran to curb smuggling and illegal movement. The navy will receive PKR 11 billion for upgrading two bases, while the Pakistan Air Force is allocated PKR 150 million for internal security duty allowance.In a separate summary submitted by the Interior Ministry, the ECC approved an additional PKR 841.6 million as a supplementary budget to support border control operations, internal security, and law and order maintenance by federal civil armed forces.

(With inputs from PTI)