Spain to hike military spending over next 6 years

MADRID, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Spain will increase its military spending by more than 80 percent over the next six years, local media reported Wednesday.

This is in keeping with NATO's 2014 Wales Summit agreement in which the participating countries agreed to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets in a "dangerous world" and raise their defense spending to 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) by 2024.

In the next six years, Spain will spend 18,000 million euros (21,396 million U.S. dollars) annually, accounting for between 1.5 and 1.6 percent of its GDP, El Pais newspaper reported.

It aims to reach the 2-percent target by approximately 2028.

However, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government will face challenges when it attempts to increase military spending in the 2018 budget as his People's Party does not enjoy a majority in the Congress. Enditem