GENOA (Reuters) – A potential increase in military spending could add to growth estimates released last month by Italian defence group Leonardo, Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo said on Monday.
“We already have a very important growth plan … everything that arrives will come on top (of current estimates)”, Profumo said when asked how a potential increase in military spending could change the group’s estimates.
Speaking at the inauguration of the group’s cybersecurity academy in Genoa, northern Italy, Profumo said the impact of a hike in defence spending would depend on what kind of defence programmes would get additional money.
Profumo said he expected NATO countries to ramp up military spending to reach 2% of economic output over time.
(Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Gianluca Semeraro and David Holmes)
