Announcing the decision for the STA, Defence Minister Andreja Katič explained that the government had made the commitment to increase defence spending to at least 1% of GDP.
According to the spring forecast of the government macroeconomic think-tank IMAD on GDP trends, the government will need to secure an additional EUR 22m for this purpose.
The Defence Ministry will secure EUR 10m on its own, while between EUR 11m and EUR 12m will be secured with today's decision, which according to Katič has been agreed on with the Finance Ministry.
The minister said that the decision had been made within the scope of competences of the caretaker government. First relevant decisions were adopted back in December 2016 as part of the strategic review of defence, and were later somewhat amended, she added.
Katič believes that the additional funds will contribute to improving the readiness of the Slovenian Armed Forces and its modernisation.
But she also noted that the army would need much more money if it wanted to compensate for all the deficit that had accumulated over the past few years due to austerity measures.
The government decision states that defence spending will be gradually increased between 2018 and 2023 to 1.11% of GDP. The goal is to reach the share of 1.2% by 2025.
