Spain is planning to boost defence spending by 73 percent to 18 billion euros ($22 billion) by 2024, an announcement that sparked outrage among opposition MPs who say social services will suffer.

Speaking at a parliamentary defence commission on Wednesday, Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal said the conservative government planned to increase the military budget to "around 1.53 percent of GDP."

According to figures provided to AFP by the defence ministry, military spending currently stands at 10.4 billion euros, or 0.86 percent of GDP.

The increase to 18 billion euros by 2024 will represent a 73 percent rise.

At the commission, opposition Socialist party lawmaker Ana Botella asked de Cospedal for "explanations over the Spanish government's commitment to NATO" to increase military spending.

She said many Spanish families' "daily lives are marked by hardship and precarity", adding that defence spending was being increased at a time when austerity measures imposed during a severe economic crisis had weakened social services.

De Cospedal also announced that Spain would increase the number of military personnel in Mali from 140 to 292.

"We are seeing a new deterioration of the security situation in Mali, there are constant attacks against Malian institutions, against the UN stabilisation mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and against Western interests and personnel," she said.

Mali's army, a deployment of French soldiers and MINUSMA have little control over large tracts of the semi-desert African country despite almost five years of military operations to root out jihadists.

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Russia to create bank for sanctions-hit defence industry
Moscow (AFP) Jan 18, 2018
Russia announced Thursday the creation of a state-owned bank to finance its defence industry which has encountered difficulties in obtaining financing due to US sanctions. In a statement the Russian finance ministry said the bank would specialise in "conducting operations related to state defence orders and large state contracts." Russian media have presented the opening of such a bank a ... read more

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