Iraq will spend about 20% of the 2016 budget on defense, says Iraqi Finance Minister

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced on Wednesday, that the defense spending will be about 20 percent of the budget in 2016, pointing out that the financial pressures pushed Iraq to the suspension of major arms deals.

“Reuters” quoted Zebari as saying that “the government moved its focus to improving the quality of the necessary weapons for this kind of war,” in reference to the ongoing battles against ISIS.

Zebari added that “about 20 percent of 2016 budget will be spent on defense items including al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces,” pointing out that “the financial pressures is pushing Iraq to the suspension of major arms deals.”