Italy says to meet NATO's 2% of GDP defence spending goal this year

ROME (Reuters) - Italy will meet NATO's 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) target on defence spending this year, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.

Italy's projected defence budget for 2024 was 1.49% of GDP, according to NATO criteria, one of the lowest levels among the countries in the military alliance, and it is under pressure from the United States to raise its outlays.

"We are acutely aware of the need to increase this expenditure in the coming years," Giorgetti said, addressing lawmakers on Italy's multi-year budget framework.

On paper, hitting the 2% goal would require about 11 billion euros ($12.50 billion), but Italy has been pushing to adjust its accounting criteria to list as defence spending items which were previously excluded.

These include money spent for certain civilian technologies as well as pensions paid to retired soldiers.

The European Commission has proposed allowing member states to raise defence spending by 1.5% of gross domestic product each year for four years, without any disciplinary steps that normally kick in once a government deficit climbs above 3% of GDP.

But highly indebted Italy does not intend to make use of this leeway for now, Giorgetti has previously said.

($1 = 0.8801 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)