Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has approved an additional military budget of more than 440 billion kyats (around US$155 million) to fund his multi-front war.
Three months before the fiscal year ends, Min Aung Hlaing approved an additional budget of 1.1 trillion kyats for his regime with the military budget accounting for more than a third.
The junta boss originally granted more than 3.7 trillion kyats for the military budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year in April 2021. The boost pushes military spending over 4 trillion kyats.
The defense ministry has dominated annual budgets through decades of civil wars across the country.
Military spending increased in response to the popular uprising against military rule following the 2021 coup and the armed forces are increasingly fighting members of the ethnic Bamar majority.
Aviation fuel and missiles account for an increasing proportion of expenditure with the junta relying on airstrikes as its ground troops struggle.
Health accounted for around 1 billion kyats in the supplementary budget.
The financial year ends on March 31 and the military budget will be renewed in April.