Central Asian countries have increased defense spending amid changing geopolitics, Voice of America reports.
A surge in military spending is seen in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, which development officials attribute to regional conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, though experts are skeptical that increased military spending will improve stability.
While Russia has been the main arms supplier to these countries for more than three decades, other countries, including Turkey, China and the United States, have now entered the market.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, military spending by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan totaled $1.8 billion last year. Data for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which do not disclose the share of military expenditures in their gross domestic product, were not included in the report.
Kazakhstan’s military budget last year was 0.5 percent of its estimated GDP of $259.7 billion, the regional media say. Kyrgyzstan’s military spending was 1.5 percent of its estimated GDP of $13.9 billion, or $208.5 million, while for Tajikistan it was 1 percent of its estimated GDP of $12 billion, or $120 million.
