25 Feb 2013
(MENAFN) Countries in the GCC are estimated to have spent around USD130 billion on the military industry last year, reported Emirates 24/7, citing London-based Jane’s Defence Weekly.
The magazine attributed the nearly 6-percent on-year rise to security issues, as these oil producers are strengthening their defenses, mainly after tensions between Iran and the US-led Western alliance over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program have escalated.
The magazine noted that the political instability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has boosted the nonstop growth in defense spending, with more money being spent on sophisticated weapons, including Patriots and other ballistic missiles.
It is worth noting that defense allocations in the GCC and other regional countries made up over 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).
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