The Russian finance ministry has proposed the government cut state spending on the military by 5% between 2021 and 2023. The proposal, published on Monday, also includes budget spending cuts of 10% for the court system, the servicing of Russia’s debt and wages for civil servants.
Russia, which flexed its military muscle with its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and intervention in the Syrian conflict, dropped out of the list of the top five biggest military spenders in 2018 after its spending fell 3.5%.Dropped out of the top five?
US, China .....
The Moscow Times said Russia returned to the "top 5" in 2019 after "briefly" falling tinto sixth place the previous year. If accurate, the top five for 2019, global share in parentheses:
- the US (38%)
- China (14%)
- India (3.7%)
- Russia (3.4%)
- Saudi Arabia (3.2%)
Or knowing that global military spending totaled $1.917 trillion in 2019 -- about what the market cap of Apple, Inc, is forecast to hit within the next year or so.
Russia: 4% of $2 trillion: $80 billion.
Market cap of EOG: $30 billion.
