Uzbekistan has raised defense and security expenditures by an additional 3.2 trillion soums ($260 million), as indicated in amendments to the law on the 2023 state budget. These amendments were approved by the Legislative chamber and Senate of the Oliy Majlis. Gazeta.uz has access to the document.
The increase in defense and security spending is stipulated by a “closed resolution,” as stated in the accompanying document.
Overall, spending by “other organizations” (Ministry of Defense, State Security Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Guard, State Customs Committee, State Reserves Management Committee and others) saw a rise of 1.91 trillion soums — moving from 36.06 trillion to 37.97 trillion soums ($3.07 billion).
Defense expenditures experienced a growth of 3.2 trillion soums due to reduction of other expenses. In particular, the transfer of the State Customs Committee and the State Reserves Management Committee (UzKomGosReserv) to the Ministry of Economy and Finance resulted in a decrease of expenditures by 944.4 billion soums and 64.5 billion soums, respectively.
Additionally, according to the document, an allocation of 47.9 billion soums ($3.8 million) was designated for the expenses of a special board of Uzbekistan Airways.
On December 15, the Legislative Chamber approved the amendment bill, and on December 20, the Senate gave its approval. In total, the amendments and additions to the 2023 budget project an increase in state spending by almost $2 billion.
As reported by Gazeta.uz, the parliament reevaluated the amendments towards the end of the year, even though a significant portion of the funds had already been expended. Once again, the government fell short of adhering to the spending limit, leading to an increase in the ceiling for foreign loans.
In 2021, an additional 1.43 trillion soums was allocated to law enforcement and defense agencies from the state budget.
