Study points to record German military spending in 2009
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, May 14, IRNA -- German military spending has hit a new record level this year, according to a study released Thursday by a Bonn-based peace institute.
Germany's military budget has continued to rise since 2006 and has reached a new peak in 2009, amounting to 31.2 billion euros, said the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), dedicated to promoting global peace and conflict-management.
A major portion of German military spending, around 5.3 billion euros, is to be used for acquiring new weapon systems, it added.
According to BICC, the overall cost of German military operations abroad which stood at 911 million euros in 2007, is also expected to surge over the next years.
Meanwhile, Germany is also among the world's leading arms exporters.
The total worth of German weapon sales in 2007 was 8.7 billion euros, up one billion euros from the previous year, according to the latest annual government arms export report.
Recipients of German hi-tech military gadgetry are many problematic countries in crisis regions, including Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Angola.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
