In a move that could intensify its arms race with Armenia, Azerbaijan has announced plans for another drastic increase in defense spending, which has already skyrocketed over the past decade.
The Azerbaijani government's defense budget for next year submitted to parliament on Tuesday calls for $3.1 billion in expenditures. News reports from Baku quoted Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov as saying that this represents an almost 90 percent rise from this year's spending level.
"Defense spending in 2011 will account for 19.7 percent compared with 10.7 percent in 2010, so the share of defense spending in the budget will almost double," Sharifov said, according to AFP news agency.
Armenian News
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