Defence buys up in last fiscal

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Dhaka, June 17 (bdnews24.com) ? Arms and ammunition imports increased by a million dollar in the last fiscal, with China being the top exporter to Bangladesh.

The country imported $24.61 million worth of arms and ammunition and parts and accessories in 2009-10 fiscal, while it was $23.71 million in the previous fiscal, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

China exported about $17 million worth of arms and ammunition in the last fiscal compared to about $10 million in the preceding fiscal.

The US, the UK, France and Russia jointly supplied about $0.11 million worth of arms and ammunition in 2009-10 fiscal, while it was about $7.4 million in the previous fiscal.

The finance minister in the proposed budget for 2011-12 fiscal has imposed 100 per cent supplementary duty on bomb, grenade, torpedo, mine, missile, revolver and pistol and similar explosives.

The minister has proposed to raise the defence spending of the country by Tk 27.76 billion to Tk 119.55 billion in the next fiscal.

It is 7.3 percent of the total budget size of Tk 1.64 trillion for the fiscal 2011-12.

For the current fiscal, the defence budget is 6.9 per cent of the Tk 1.32 trillion budget.

The revised spending, however, increased to Tk 93.22 billion from the original expenditure of Tk 91.79 billion.

Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in his budget speech for 2011-12 on June 9 said the government had taken steps to modernise the defence system.

"There is no alternative to augmenting the defence capacity of the country through modernisation of armed forces," he said.

The government has taken steps to provide training to the three forces to enhance their operational capacity and efficiency.

"Side by side, we have been trying to procure modern equipment and modern technology-based military hardware and to enhance other benefits for the defence forces," he said.

He said approximately a total of 9,000 members of three forces were working in peace-keeping missions of the United Nations.

"Our armed forces have not only glorified the image of Bangladesh but also made significant contribution to the economy," he said.

"We believe that they will continue to leave their mark in the international arena in the similar fashion as they are doing now," he added.

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