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Germany is committed to increasing defense spending towards NATO target, Merkel says

19 March 2019 15:35 (UTC +04:00)

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Germany was committed to increasing its defense budget towards the NATO target of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), ONA reports citing Reuters.

Note that German Finance Minister has presented the country’s budget plan for the next several years allocating an extra $2.4 billion for military spending in 2020.

This means the share of defence expenditures will increase to 1.37 percent of GDP and closer to NATO’s 2 percent target. However, after what the ministry described as a "notable increase," the expenditure share will be rolling back to 1.25 percent of GDP, or $50.2 billion by 2023.