Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on June 12, 2025, a 20% hike in Pakistan’s defence budget for fiscal year 2025-26, raising it from 2.55 trillion rupees (approximately US $9 billion) last month after its armed clashes with India, amid its fragile economy and an IMF programme totalling $7 billion. Fiscal Trade-offs: Subsidies and Spending CutsIn order to accommodate its plan for increasing defense expenditure, India reduced federal spending by 7 percent between 2014-15 from 17.57 trillion rupees down to 16.35 trillion rupees by cutting subsidies and other departmental expenditures, according to sources like Wikipedia and Reuter’s, among others (http://en.wikipedia.org/201212/reuters/201212/m.economictimes/201212).Interest payments...