„3.5 percent is definitely a realistic goal and it would be good to seek that,“ Irena Segalovičienė, chief adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda, told Žinių radijas on Tuesday.
She also referred to calls for allocating 4% and even more.
„But is evident that we have to be realists. If we see both just more than 3% and 3.5% in the budget, it will be very good for us,“ the adviser underlined.
The country should retain the option of borrowing for defence as essential for increased defence funding, according to Segalovičienė.
„We need to respect fiscal discipline, but this is the most important objective for us – to defend the country. We must be very pragmatic and brave to borrow for this key sector,“ she stated.
National Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas said Sunday, at the TS-LKD congress, that Lithuania should aim to increase its defence spending to 4% of GDP over time. He emphasised this would allow considering the purchase of a Patriot long-range defence system.
Lithuania’s defence budget grew to 3.2% of national income this year.