PM Costa won’t commit to date for 2% of GDP for defence

  • Lusa
  • 29 June 2022

The country's prime minister revealed on Wednesday that the Portugal could not "objectively commit" to a date to achieve the target of 2% of GDP reserved for defence.

Portugal’s prime minister said on Wednesday that the country could not “objectively commit” to a date to achieve the target of 2% of GDP reserved for defence, stating that it only makes “commitments that can fulfil”.

“We make commitments that we know we can fulfil (.Remarkably way, we cannot objectively commit to a date [to reach the 2% of GDP earmarked for defence], given the situation of uncertainty that the global economy is experiencing, with a huge growth in inflation, pressure on interest rates, and the great determination we have for a strong reduction in our public debt,” António Costa said.

The prime minister was speaking upon arrival at the Madrid Exhibition Park, where the summit of heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is being held and was asked when Portugal would be able to reach the target set by NATO member states at the Wales summit in 2014 when they pledged to set aside 2% of GDP for defence.

António Costa said that “Portugal will next year meet the goal it had assumed, in writing, for 2024: to reach 1.66% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)” earmarked for defence.

According to the prime minister, when Portugal committed in 2018 to reach 1.66% in 2024, it had been defined that it could reach 1.98% in the same year if the “community resources” planned were made available.

“Those that were foreseen at the time no longer exist. We know that they no longer exist. New ones are under discussion. If new ones come in, things can change. If they do not change, we may have a commitment [to], relatively throughout the decade, converge towards this goal,” he stressed.