Military expenditure has been a major issue and an ongoing concern in the developing countries. There are many opinions around the world, and there is always a dilemma in the minds of policy makers as to how much should be given to defence as nobody can dispute that money spent on arms, in a developing economy, is at the expense of probably more pressing needs of social and infrastructure development. Yet, defence is a prime responsibility of the state and maintaining an autonomous capability to defend a nation's sovereignty remains as one of the principal responsibilities of governments.

Military expenditure is primarily influenced by two factors i.e. the need for 'security' and the perception of 'threat' that a country faces. Many societies demand 'security' as much as they demand basic necessities such as education and health. Generally 'security' is linked with military forces; as such psychological need to feel secure is normally satisfied with military expenditure. At times the military expenditure becomes high as the country feels insecure or when political leaders deliberately pursue aggressive policies to lead to confrontational situa-

tion.

invariably all military expenditure comes from government budget, whereas other public expenditures like health and education have their counterpart in private consumption expenditure. Defence spending is predominantly a public good and is inextricably connected with government spending. As a result there is always a tussle between defence and other public sectors in getting share of the government spending. This has created dilemmas in the minds of the policy planners all over the world, whether it is the richest country of the world or one of the poorest. To some, every penny that is allotted to the military could be better utilized in other sectors, while others feel that need for security is paramount.

Government spending can be divided into four

categories, i.e. defence,

economic services, social services and others.

Economic services would include expenditure on agriculture, industry, energy, water resources management, transport, communications, etc. social services would consist of expenditures on health, education, housing, community services, etc. Private sector and foreign donors play a major role in funding all activities

less defence. Defence is one sector where government is the sole source of funding, unless the country is involved in some form of military alliance with other countries, and those countries are providing goods or services.

There is a very close relationship between defence and economic development. Continuous growth of society and economy would cause an expansion in spending related to security matters. With the increase in national wealth, internal and external law and order or security needs become more important as such government is obliged to increase spending on defence and policing. it has been seen that the richer nations become more security conscious as such their defence spending rise with the rise in their per capita income.

it is interesting to note that Emile Benoit in his book “Growth and Defence in Developing Countries” has tried to establish that defence expenditure stimulates the economic growth in LDCs. He writes, “it has usually been supposed by economists that defence expenditure reduces the resources available for investment and so slows down

growth However in a large study of less developed countries, an opposite pattern seem to appear, and this finding was so unexpected and

challenging that it seemed worthwhile exploring in detail Contrary to my expectations, countries with heavy defence burden had the most rapid rate of growth, and those with less defence burden tended to show the lowest growth rates.”

However, there are many critics of Benoit's findings. We shall not get into the debate whether defence expenditure actually increases or decreases growth rates. Benoit further goes on to establish that military expenditure may have an indirect productivity, which can make tangible contributions towards the civilian economy. This is achieved by:

(1) feeding, clothing and housing a number of people who would otherwise have to be looked after by the civilian economy,

(2) providing education and medical care as well as vocational and technical training,

(3) engaging in a variety of public works roads, dams, airports, river training, and communication network that may serve civilian uses,

(4) engaging in scientific and technical specialities such as hydrographic studies, mapping, aerial surveys, dredging, meteorology, soil conservation, and forestry projects, as well as certain quasi-civilian activities such as coast guard, border guard, and disaster relief which would otherwise have to be performed by civilian personnel. Military forces also engage in certain R&D and production activities, which help the civilian economy and engage in or finance self-help projects producing certain manufactured items for combined civilian and military use.

According to the recently released siPRi Yearbook 2005, the World military expenditure in 2004 is estimated to have been $1035 billion. As a global average, 2004 military expenditure corresponds to $162 per capita and 2.6 per cent of World GDP. The average annual rate of increase in world military expenditure over the 10-

year period 1995-2004 was 2.4 per cent in real terms.

Now, coming to Bangladesh scenario; Bangladesh's expenditure on defence for the period

1995-2004 was (in 2003 constant Us $ million):

We would now like to see how some of our neighbours are spending on defence. The chart below shows military expenditure (ME) as % of GDP, % of Centr al Gove rnme nt Expe nditu re (CG E) and per capit a expe nditu re on ME

for a period of 15 years from 1990-2004:

* All figures are courtesy of SIPRI.

This criterion of comparison of Military

Expenditure (ME)/GDP of different countries has their limitations. The proportion of national resources allotted to defence will

depend on the security

perceptions of the elites and the policymaking circles of the nation, and the security environment in which the country finds itself.

Evaluated in terms of ME/GDP ratios, Bangladesh's current military expenditure is low

in comparison to other nations in south or southEast Asia. Nevertheless, the amount allotted to the defence is quite substantive. it is admittedly difficult to determine exactly what

amount is to be allotted to the defence sector. However, whatever amount is allotted need to be spent most judiciously. The subject of military expenditure in Bangladesh has become a taboo. The Government and opposition both are guilty of keeping this 'sacred cow' hidden from the public. it is time that the defence budget is debated in the Parliament, that will augur better days for the country.

The author is a free lancer.