Germany to allocate another €9 billion for defense starting in 2028
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner sees the possibility of allocating up to €9 billion for additional defense spending starting in 2028. In particular, if Berlin can reduce its debt level.
This was reported by Reuters.
According to him, additional funds can be allocated if Germany reduces its debt to the level of 60% of gross domestic product set by the EU.
"If we fall below this limit, then the repayment of coronavirus debt planned from 2028 could be discussed again," he said.
The German government has taken out emergency loans totaling about 300 billion euros in 2020, 2021, and 2022 in connection with the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
According to Lindner, Germany's budget provides for debt repayments of nine billion euros per year starting in 2028.
"However, if the burden of the pandemic on the debt level has already been overcome by then, the repayment could be significantly reduced. This would make billions available that will help us achieve the leap to the NATO target in the federal budget after the end of the special programme for the Bundeswehr," he said.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Germany created a special fund of 100 billion euros to purchase modern weapons. It also pledged to meet NATO's goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense.
