Govt earmarks Bt75.5 billion for military spending; welfare payments, vehicle purchases eyed
The Myanmar military will spend 2.2 trillion kyat (Bt75.5 billion) for its budget in the next fiscal year, the Defence Minister told Parliament yesterday.
Defence Minister Lt-General Wai Lwin explained how the money would go towards covering military welfare, purchasing of vehicles and machinery, training at military academies and sending officers abroad to attend training.
“When building a military camp, we build from dirt roads, macadam roads, paved roads and tar roads depending on the budget,” Lt-General Wai Lwin said.
“Similarly, we have also planned tasks to maintain the roads and bridges that are useful for both military operations and rural development in military operation areas. Maintenance of military attache? buildings abroad is also included in our project.”
According to government statistics, Myanmar’s total income is 16.5 trillion kyat and its total expenditure is 19.3 trillion kyat, between 3 and 5 per cent of which will go to health and education respectively.
According the defence minister, the proposed military budget of 2.2 trillion kyat for the next fiscal year is approximately 6 billion kyat less than last year.
However, the military will also receive an additional 83 billion kyat from the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, totalling the annual military spending to 2.36 trillion kyat.
While the military received 13 per cent of the state budget last fiscal year, it only plans to use 12 per cent of the state budget this year, according to Lt-General Wai Lwin.
