Azerbaijan to double defense expenditure in 2011 state budget

Azerbaijan's defense expenditures will amount to $2.511 billion in the 2011 public budget, which is more by 1.187 billion manat or 89.7% compared to the 2010 public budget, Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said during the discussion of the draft 2011 public budget at a plenary meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday.

"Taking into account Azerbaijan's military doctrine, which is part of the concept of our country's national security, the 2011 public budget will allocate 1.325 billion manat to finance the country's defense capabilities," he said. "The country's public budget is expected to allocate an additional 1.087 billion manat to bring the armed forces up to modern requirements and purchase modern weapons."

Sharifov said the share of expenditure on national defense will amount to 19.7% in 2011, while this figure was 10.7% in 2010. "That is, the share of defense expenditure in the budget has nearly doubled," Sharifov said.

Moreover, the public budget provides investments for projects in the defense sector, Sharifov said.


/Trend/