Pakistan is planning to raise its defence budget by about PKR 100 billion in the next fiscal year as the government prepares its budget under an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed reform programme that projects a sharp rise in revenues.
The defence sector expenses are the second biggest component of the annual expenditure for Pakistan after the debt payments.
According to a report in Dawn, the defence expenditure for 2026-27 was estimated at Pakistani rupees (PKR) Rs 2.665 trillion, up from PKR 2.564 trillion this year.
The PKR 2.564 was an increase of nearly 20 per cent compared to the previous year.
In May last year, the Pakistan government had endorsed an 18 per cent increase in defence spending to over Rs 2.5 trillion in the next budget due to tensions with India.
In November, the Pakistan government approved PKRs 50 billion supplementary budget for the armed forces to strengthen security at international borders, upgrade naval bases, and continue protecting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The IMF projected Pakistan's total federal revenues for 2026-27 at PKR 17.144 trillion—that is more than PKR 2 trillion higher than the current fiscal year and represents a 13.5 per cent increase, the Dawn report said.
An IMF staff mission is currently in Pakistan to finalise budget proposals before the budget 2026-27 is presented to the cabinet and the parliament early next month.
