Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has allocated just US$ 14.3 million (30 billion kyats) of the national budget for victims of what he called “the most devastating flood in 50 years” – almost 200 times less than the $2.7 billion (5.6 trillion kyats) in regime military spending last year.
Nine of Myanmar’s 15 states and regions, including the capital Naypyitaw, suffered severe flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain in the second week of September.
The official death toll from the disaster rose to 433 on Friday, the highest among the four countries affected by Typhoon Yagi. The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says nearly one million Myanmar people are affected by flooding.
Min Aung Hlaing said on Sept. 21 that his regime had earmarked 30 billion kyats for relief and rehabilitation efforts.
That amount contrasts starkly with its military budgets since the 2021 coup – 1.746 trillion kyats for six months of 2021 after the coup, 3.703 trillion kyats in 2022, and 5.635 trillion kyats in 2023 – which have funded indiscriminate airstrikes in a vain bid to regain territory lost to a nationwide armed uprising. Junta airstrikes last month alone killed 180 people, including at least 15 children.
The regime has yet to announce the military budget for this fiscal year (April 2024-March 2025). However, Min Aung Hlaing told a March 21 financial commission meeting that budget distribution must prioritize stability and law enforcement efforts.
Military spending this year is forecast to rise as the junta struggles with resistance offensives on multiple fronts, including Operation 1027 in Shan State and Mandalay Region. It must also bear additional costs for conscripts drafted under its new military service law, former military personnel recalled to active duty, and formation of public security teams. The regime has never revealed figures for its purchase of warplanes and weapon systems from abroad.
Presiding over a recent ceremony where junta cronies donated money for flood-relief operations, Min Aung Hlaing lamented that his regime could not allocate as much as it wanted for victims due to budget constraints.
Crony tycoons donated 32.2 billion kyats ($15.2 million) during the stage-managed ceremony in Naypyitaw last Tuesday. Another 10 billion kyats was received on Saturday amid continued pleas for donations by the junta. Min Aung Hlaing said he would use the donations to aid flood victims.
Despite the devastating floods, the regime has continued to conduct indiscriminate airstrikes targeting civilian infrastructure in resistance-held territories over the past two weeks.
The junta has also called on tens of thousands of displaced flood victims to return home for this month’s population census, despite the reported absence of official relief and rehabilitation efforts in flood-ravaged communities across the country. The census will be used to compile voter lists for an election the regime plans to hold next year. Junta opponents have criticized the poll as a sham intended to prolong the military’s grip on power.
