TSAMTO, November 2. Morocco and Algeria, in the context of growing tensions in the region, will significantly increase defense spending in 2022, respectively, by 12% and 7.8%.
As reported by Infodefensa.com With reference to Morocco World News, the newly formed new Moroccan government allocated 4.8 billion rubles for defense in 2022. euro, which is 11.76% more than in 2021 f.g. Last year Rabat has already increased its military spending by 30% compared to the previous year.
The figure planned for defense next year is the highest in the country's history, and it will break the barrier of 50 billion dirhams for the first time. The announcement of this increase coincided with a sharp increase in tensions with neighboring Algeria, which since November 1 has stopped supplying Morocco with gas as before, using a string of a gas pipeline built to pump gas to Spain.
Faced with the threat of a gas blockade, the Moroccan Government has begun discussing with Spain the possibility of reversing gas through the aforementioned gas pipeline. Thus, Rabat will be able to continue generating 10% of the electricity it produces from Algerian gas.
Algeria, for its part, almost simultaneously with Morocco, also announced an increase in its 2022 military budget by $700 million. This figure is equivalent to an increase of 7.8% compared to FY 2021 - up to $9.7 billion (more than $8.35 billion). euro at the current exchange rate).
According to data from the US Trade Agency published by Le Nouvel Afrik, Washington's military sales to Rabat have doubled in just one year (from just over $4 billion in 2020 to $8.5 billion this year). In addition, Morocco is implementing a plan to create a national defense industry, which, according to estimates, already exceeds the capacity of Algeria's defense industry. Rabat also plans to increase the number of military personnel from 175 to 200 thousand people.
