Editorial: Malaysia Cuts Military Budget for 2016 Amid Economic Woes

By Prashanth Parameswaran

Premier announces cut of over two percent for next year.

Malaysia has cut its defense budget by over 2% for 2016 in yet another sign that budget constraints are undermining the country’s defense spending plans, Prime Minister Najib Razak revealed in an annual speech to the nation delivered October 23.

As I have noted before, Malaysian defense officials have repeatedly called for a boost to the country’s maritime and aerial capabilities in the face of rising threats ranging from piracy to terrorism and Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, which has begun to affect the country to a greater extent in recent years (See: “Malaysia Responds to China’s South China Sea Intrusion”).

But according to Najib’s annual budget speech delivered on Friday, the amount allocated for defense was just 17.3 billion ringgit ($4 billion), a decrease of 2.25% relative to the 17.7 billion ringgit allocated for 2015. The 2015 defense budget, by contrast, had constituted a 10% increase over 2014 levels.

Read the full story at The Diplomat