Saudi Arabia: Percent Rise and Russian Economy

saudi arabia: This increased spending and heavy burden on the economy comes at a time when the Russian economy is in serious trouble due to low oil and gas prices and the economic sanctions imposed since 2014, by the West over the Ukraine conflict SIPRI said, according to The Japan Times. Saudi Arabia was the third-largest spender in 2015 but dropped to fourth place in 2016 as its expenditures fell by 30 percent to 63.7 billion, despite its continued involvement in regional wars. Russia spent 69.2 billion on defense in 2016, a 5.9 percent rise over 2015, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI said in the report, adding this was the highest proportion of its GDP since it became an independent state. Falling oil revenue and associated economic problems attached to the oil price shock has forced many oil-exporting countries to reduce military spending, SIPRI researcher Nan Tian said, adding that Saudi Arabia had the largest drop in spending between 2015 and 2016. SIPRI said the rise in U.S. military spending in 2016 may signal the end of a trend of decreases in spending caused by the 2008 economic crisis and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. remained the top spender as its military expenditures grew by 1.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 to 611 billion while China boosted its expenditures by 5.4 percent to 215 billion, a lower rate than in previous years. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.