The Sri Lankan government has increased its budget allocation towards defence to USD1.9 billion (LKR290.7 billion) in its latest set of proposals presented to parliament yesterday.
The proposal marks a 2.3% increase on its defence budget from last year.
LKR 260.7 billion will be put towards “military operations and salaries”, whilst a further LKR30 billion is ring-fenced for “capital funding or military procurement” reports Jane’s 360.
The Sri Lankan army alone is set to receive LKR 156 billion in the latest proposal.
The increase in spending makes the defence budget the top expenditure for the Sri Lankan government.
The second highest expenditure will be interest costs. This is to pay interest on loans taken out by Sri Lanka to finance previous deficits.
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