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Russian Military Spending Soars -- Zachary Keck, The Diplomat
Russia’s defense spending will increase by 18% in 2014, and another 33% over the next two years.
Russia has announced that it will increase defense spending by some 18 percent this year despite its worsening economic outlook.
According to a report in Jane’s Defence Weekly, the Russian Federal Treasury announced late last month that “Expenditure on National Defense” will rise from 2,101.4 billion rubles ($58.2 billion) in 2013 to 2,488.1 billion rubles in 2014. This is projected to be about 3.4 percent of Russia’s GDP but over 20 percent of government spending. Another 16.5 percent of the government budget will go to national security and law enforcement.
By contrast, in 2010 defense spending only accounted for 12.6 percent of total state spending while defense and security only accounted for about 25 percent compared to the nearly 37 percent of spending they will make up in 2014. Jane’s notes that spending on “education, housing, social care and healthcare will all fall” as a result.
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My Comment: This is not a return to the days of the Cold War .... but the trends are ominous.
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