US President George W. Bush will propose to Congress a defense budget of US$401.7 billion for the 2005 fiscal year, a 7 percent increase over the current fiscal year, the Pentagon said Friday.

"In order to meet US national security priorities, the fiscal 2005 budget request reflects the president's continued commitment to prosecute the War on Terror and balances support for long-term transformation of technology and defense capabilities with resources for current global operations and requirement," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Pentagon provided no details on the request, but officials said the figure did not include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, the United States spends about US$1 billion in Iraq and about US$250 million in Afghanistan each week.

The Pentagon statement said the priorities of the budget request include the improvement of quality of life of military personnel, investments in better intelligence systems and measures to upgrade combat readiness of the military.

The Pentagon will make public details of the budget request in early February. The 2005 fiscal year starts on Oct. 1 this year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2004)