PARIS - France increased its 2012 defense budget 1.6 percent to 31.7 billion euros ($43.1 billion) from 31.1 billion euros in 2011, helped by exceptional revenues of 1.1 billion euros from the sale of radio frequencies and property, the Defense Ministry said Sept. 29.
The headline equipment budget rose 3 percent to 16.5 billion euros from 16 billion euros, which includes maintenance and infrastructure. Some 10 billion euros have been earmarked for equipment procurement, said the financial affairs director for the secretary general.
The annual defense budget was 300 million euros short of the multiyear military budget law, but represented a "notable effort" given the financial difficulties, the official said.
Louis Gautier, international relations professor at Lyons University, said the budget was a notional one, a "trompe l'oeil," as presidential and parliamentary elections starting in May mean a new government will implement the budget. A government of right or left would likely "tighten the budgetary screws," he said.
A report on the 2011 defense budget by the French Senate finance committee, published October 2010, pointed to a likely funding gap of up to 36 billion euros by 2020, referring to missions in the 2008 defense white paper. An absence of exceptional revenues would cause the financial shortfall, the report said. The white paper is being updated, with the revised version to be published in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment