Hungary to double defence spending by 2022

Budapest (MTI) – The government is set to double its defence spending as a percentage of GDP by 2022, Defence Minister Istvan Simicsko said on Tuesday.

Responding to a written question by Socialist lawmaker Marta Demeter, Simicsko said the government projected a 0.85 percent of GDP defence budget for 2016 and is expected to increase defence spending to 1.39 percent of GDP by 2022. Given the nominal increase in GDP, the nominal defence budget for 2022 will be double that of 2016, the minister said.

At last year’s NATO summit in Wales, member states agreed to increase their defence spending to 2 percent of GDP over the following ten years and to spend 20 percent of their defence budgets on major equipment and related research and development.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters