Defense expenditures and budgetary patterns in selected middle eastern and mediterranean countries: an assessment

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between defense spending and budgetary allocations to various programs for twelve Middle Eastern and North African/Mediterranean countries in an attempt to see if spending patterns vary systematically with changes (both anticipated and unanticipated) in the budget deficit or defense expenditures. Detailed results are presented for Syria and Oman although general patterns are discussed for all countries. Not surprisingly, we found that budget tradeoffs are complex and reflect different priorities across countries. Increases in deficits can either offset or reinforce changes in defense spending. Defense and socio-economic tradeoffs vary considerably depending on whether the country spends relatively a lot or little on defense. We conclude that there are probably some long-run costs associated with sample countries cutting growth intensive programs to accommodate defense.