JAKARTA. The Defense Ministry is planning to request Rp 80 trillion (US$8.5 billion) in its budget for 2012, a ministry official says.

Defense Ministry Defense Planning Director General Air Vice Marshall Bonggas S. Silaen said Wednesday that the government currently allocated 0.69 percent of the Gross Domestic Product to the nation's defenses.

He said the preparedness rate for the nation's weaponry was on average below 30 percent.

"If the budget could be increased to between 1.8 percent and 2.2 percent of the GDP, the preparedness could be improved between 80 and 90 percent," Bonggas said.

He said he hoped the projected defense budget for the coming two to three years would be above 1 percent of GDP and increase in phases within the next 10 years. (Dina Indirasafitri/ The Jakarta Post)

Editor: Edy Can