Yeni Azarbaycan, Azerbaijan
Jan 17 2009

Azerbaijan announces rise in military spending

Azerbaijan will spend 2.3bn dollars on its military in 2009, President
Ilham Aliyev has said, adding that the country always needs to be
prepared for a military solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
with Armenia.

"We need to be ready to liberate our native land at any time and by
any means. We are ready for that but we should strengthen ourselves
even further," Aliyev was quoted as saying by the Yeni Azarbaycan
daily on 17 January. He was speaking at a cabinet meeting the day
before.

Azerbaijan’s military spending amounted to nearly 2bn dollars in 2008.

Last year Azerbaijan’s economy grew by 11 per cent despite the global
economic crisis, President Aliyev said. The overall state budget for
2009 is estimated at 18.4bn dollars, he added.

[translated from Azeri]