Editorial: Why Did Brunei Slash Its Defense Budget?

KDB DARUTTAQWA - Darussalam Class OPV (Wiki Info)

By Prashanth Parameswaran

Defense spending for the Southeast Asian state has been cut by over 25 percent.

Brunei’s defense spending has been slashed by over 25 percent for 2015 as the tiny, oil rich Southeast Asian state’s revenue is projected to decline partly due to falling global oil prices, according to local media reports.

According to The Brunei Times, Second Finance Minister at the Prime Minister’s office, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, told the 11th Legislative Council on March 10 that the country’s budget would be around BND 537.49 million ($387.66 million) this year, down from the previous year’s BND 719.15 million.

In terms of the breakdown, around BND 336.15 million of the 2015 budget will be dedicated to personnel expenses, BND 169.34 million will go towards recurring annual costs of the military, and the remaining BND32 million is likely to be classified as “special expenditure”.

Within that breakdown, personnel expenses increased by around BND 15.28 million relative to last year. The rise was attributed to increments, the filling of existing vacancies, and the addition of new positions to maintain the extra equipment that the Royal Brunei Navy and Royal Brunei Air Force had acquired. Recurring annual costs, meanwhile, decreased just slightly. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat