Brazil’s Defense Ranks Among Biggest Spenders on Officers’ Salaries and Pensions

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – When compared to the countries that make up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Brazil ranks among the three nations that proportionally spend the most on salaries and pensions for military personnel, according to a study by the Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI). The study released on Thursday, September 3rd by the institute – which is linked to the Senate – shows that Brazil is only behind Greece and Croatia, according to 2018 data. These expenses accounted for 74.3 percent of all spending by the Ministry of Defense last year, and two years ago it was 76.7 percent.

The study was presented the same day the Planalto Palace submitted its administrative reform proposal to Congress. The military was exempted because of its own rules, as occurred last year in the Welfare reform. At the time, the government submitted a separate bill to alter the pensions of members of the Armed Forces and also included a readjustment in factors that help fatten salaries.

“We don’t get overtime, we don’t get a Guarantee Fund, we don’t get a lot of things. Stability comes with ten years of service, not three, isn’t that right? But no one wants to compare anything”, justified President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday, on his weekly live stream, on the fact that the reform is focused on civilian employees. The proposal aims to end stability for some future civil servants.

Pensions

The IFI study that places Brazil among those spending the most on staff adds the payment of pensions for death. Excluding this data, the country would rank ninth when compared to NATO members, the main Western military alliance. Besides Brazil, only European nations rank among the top ten.

Countries like Canada and the United States, the world’s greatest military power, are part of NATO – Brazil is not a member, but adopts bloc standards for military planning. In the Bolsonaro government, the country became a preferential ally of the US among the countries outside NATO.

Based on spending estimates by NATO countries on personnel last year, the IFI ranks Brazil second, behind Greece (77 percent) and ahead of Croatia (73 percent). In 2019, the Ministry of Defense’s personnel expenses totaled R$76.1 billion, while capital expenses (related to the purchase of equipment) amounted to R$12.8 billion.

Since 2014, the personnel budget has varied between 77 and 82 percent of the total portfolio. Personnel spending has increased in recent years after salary adjustments approved by the Michel Temer administration, while investments in strategic equipment, such as the Guarani armored military combat vehicle, the nuclear submarine program (PROSUB) and the Tamandaré corvettes, have been hampered by budget restrictions and the imposition of a spending ceiling.

Brazil was the 77th-ranked country in national defense spending in 2019 in relation to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a ranking prepared by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Leaders are typically countries involved in conflicts or tension areas, such as the Middle East.

Among its neighbors, Brazil ranked 6th, ahead of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru. In South America, the leaders have traditionally been Colombia and Ecuador, with military spending equivalent to 3.15 and 2.29 percent of their GDPs last year, respectively.

Last year, Brazil’s spending on national defense totaled 1.48 percent of its GDP. The IFI points out that the country’s spending is close to the average for America and Europe, with the exception of the United States and Russia. To reach the spending level equivalent to two percent of the GDP next year, as desired by the Armed Forces leadership, Brazil would have to increase the Ministry of Defense’s budget by R$30 billion.

Tasks

The Ministry of Defense reported that personnel expenses are related to the accumulation of tasks performed by Armed Forces members in Brazil. The portfolio mentions, for instance, the Army’s operation to carry water to the semiarid region of the Northeast and road construction, organ transport and traffic control by the Air Force, and medical care to riverine residents by the Navy. For the Ministry, the comparison would be “more adequate” if conducted with countries of similar level of technological development as Brazil.

The government argues that in NATO there are countries with state-of-the-art technology, smaller territories, and “complex mutual defense support arrangements”. “We are not a first world country. Therefore, the Brazilian Armed Forces act far beyond the defense of the national territory,” says the Ministry. “The strategic projects and the re-equipment of the Armed Forces will contribute directly to reducing the growth of personnel expenses, to the extent that they enable technological progress leading to technical and operational gains.”

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo

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