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Colombia Military Expenditures
During the late 1980s, the increased threat to national
security posed by renewed guerrilla activities and the
growing
power of Colombian narcotics traffickers provided the
rationale for
considerable increases in military expenditures. In 1987
the armed
forces budget stood at US$274 million, an amount nearly
twice the
spending level set a decade earlier. This amount
represented nearly
15 percent of the federal government's total public
expenditures
for 1987, making military spending the second highest item
after
education in terms of official budgetary priorities. This
proportion of spending was comparable to expenditures in
the
mid-1960s, a period when the armed forces were involved in
an
intensive effort to defeat the country's domestic
insurgents. The
proportion of government expenditures on defense in 1987
represented a significant increase over allocations
approved during
the early 1980s. At that time, military spending ranged
from 7 to
10 percent of central government expenditures. In
comparison,
during the mid-1950s the Colombian armed forces received
about 20
percent of the government's budget.
Military expenditures for 1987 represented only an
estimated 1
percent of the gross domestic product
(GDP--see Glossary).
As a
proportion of GDP, this level remained relatively constant
throughout the 1980s, but it reflected a decline from an
average of
1.7 percent of GDP during the 1970s. As a proportion of
the gross
national product
(GNP--see Glossary), military spending
also
remained relatively constant through the mid-1980s. In
1985
military expenditures as a percentage of GNP were
estimated at 1.2
percent, a level of spending proportionate to that
maintained a
decade earlier.
In 1987 the Ministry of National Defense estimated that
the
military's spending needs for the following year--which
included
plans for substantial equipment purchases--would total
close to
US$1.5 billion. Had this requested spending level been
authorized,
it would have been equivalent to roughly one-third of the
Colombian
government's total expenditures. The Colombian Congress,
however,
approved only US$313 million for the 1988 military budget,
an
amount that reflected an increase of 14 percent over the
previous
year's spending level. This approved increase in spending
was
insufficient to enable the armed forces to keep pace with
inflation
(see Inflation and Unemployment
, ch. 3).
Nevertheless, in recognition of the country's security
needs,
the president and the legislature during 1987 devised
alternatives
to raise additional public funds for the armed forces
without
compromising government programs in other high-priority
areas. One
such effort was a presidential decree, issued in mid-1987,
that
exempted arms purchases from customs tariffs and duties.
In
September, Congress approved a measure providing for the
issuance
of special government bonds that would be sold to firms
and
individuals whose taxable profits were above 5 percent of
annual
income. Analysts anticipated that the sale of the
compulsory bonds
would raise as much as US$40 million in additional monies
for
defense.
United States military assistance represented an
important
source of funds for the Colombian armed forces. Funds
scheduled
under the Military Assistance Program (MAP) for fiscal
year
(FY-- see Glossary)
1986 included US$20 million in Foreign
Military Sales
(FMS) credits and US$950,000 provided under the
International
Military Education and Training (IMET) Program. The FMS
credits
were to be used for the purchase of replacement parts for
vehicles
and aircraft, infantry weapons, vehicles, construction
equipment,
and helicopters. Monies provided during FY 1987 included
US$3.5
million in MAP funds and nearly US$1.5 million for the
IMET
program. At the beginning of FY 1988, according to one
United
States government report, Colombia owed no monies for
credit
financing that had been provided under the MAP.
Data as of December 1988
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