TSAMTO, October 5. On October 4, Taiwan's Prime Minister Su Zhenchang announced an increase in the country's defense budget for 2023 by 12.9% (by 13.9%, taking into account the special budget).
Presenting the government's budget report for 2023 in Legislative Yuan, the Prime Minister announced that 415.1 billion rubles will be allocated to the Ministry of National Defense. tyv. ($13.06 billion), which is 47.5 billion. tyv. or 12.9% more than in the current year. The total amount of special funds for the purchase of new F-16V fighters and the implementation of plans to improve combat capabilities at sea and in the air is 108.3 billion. tyv. USD. As part of the improvement of the Navy and the Air Force, including the purchase of controlled high-precision weapons systems is planned.
Taking into account special funds in the amount of 62.9 billion tiv. In the framework of which the construction of housing and infrastructure for the armed forces and defense production are financed, the total amount of defense spending will amount to 586.3 billion. tyv. USD, which is 71.6 billion. tyv. USD exceeds the indicator of 2022 (an increase of 13.9%).
The estimated annual revenue of the state budget of Taiwan for 2023 is 2.556 trillion. tyv. $, which is 289.5 billion. tyv. USD (by 12.8%) more than in 2022. The planned expenditures for 2023 amount to a total of 2.719 trillion. tyv. (89.9 billion dollars), which is 468 billion. tyv. USD (20.8%) more than in 2022.
Taiwan's increase in defense spending to a record high is motivated by the growing military threat from China. The situation in the region worsened after the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi to Taipei on August 2-3.
