MOSCOW, Aug 20 (AFP) - Russia said Friday it planned sharp increases in spending next year on the army, police and secret services, with a draft budget seeking to boost security expenditure by more than 25 percent, Interfax news agency reported.
The government's draft 2005 budget raises spending on the armed forces by 27.6 percent to 528 billion rubles (18 billion dollars), Interfax said, citing draft budget figures obtained from the finance ministry.
It also seeks spending hikes of about 26 percent by comparison with the 2004 budget "for national security and law enforcement activities," the report said.
Overall state spending in 2005 on the so-called "power structures" -- the armed forces, the police and the secret services -- would expand by 926 billion rubles, a year-on-year increase of 27 percent, it added.
The state budget is drawn up by the executive branch but can become law only after debate, modification and approval by the legislature, a process by which the government's plans may undergo significant alteration.
The Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, is controlled by supporters of President Vladimir Putin however, and the report on the 2005 draft budget came a week after Putin called for a 40 percent hike in defense procurement spending next year.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said this increase was partly to cover operating costs and material orders from Russian manufacturers.
The plans to boost spending were in line with efforts to reform the armed forces, a policy adopted by Putin soon after the start of his first term in 2000.
After a lean decade, the Russian army received a big budgetary boost last year, with an increase of 8.6 billion rubles (280 million dollars).
By comparison, the US defense budget exceeds 400 billion dollars, more than 22 times that of Russia.