What happened: On June 3, the government increased the defence budget for the current fiscal year by 6% to over Rs1.45 trillion in order to meet the armed services’ needs, particularly their higher salary requirements. Details: The Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee, which approved Rs182 billion in additional grants overall, decided to enhance the defence budget by another Rs80 billion. The ECC also agreed to impose a 10% regulatory charge on imported gasoline from China in order to prevent abuse of the bilateral free trade agreement. Previously: The Ministry of Defence had requested an additional Rs80 billion in the defence budget to cover “important gaps,” as well as budget modifications for the Jinnah Naval Base, Naval Base Turbat, and a multi-functional office complex in the headquarters. More: The ECC meeting was presided over by Federal Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail, who approved a Rs80 billion supplementary budget for the military forces, or to the extent of the actual additional costs incurred. According to the finance ministry, increased spending in fiscal year 2021-22, which ends on June 30, will be less than Rs80 billion.