Government budgets may be under heavy pressure as a result of the sharp fall in oil revenues, but one area that still seems well protected is defence. An analysis of military spending patterns by the London-based think-tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), released in early February, shows expenditure on the region’s armed forces is still growing, albeit at a slower rate than in the recent past. Data published in The Military Balance 2016 show that Saudi Arabia’s military budget last year was $81.9bn, the world’s third largest behind the United States and China, up from $80.8bn a year before.
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