Merkel says Germany remains committed to NATO defence spending target

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a presentation of a newly designed 2-Euro coin at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that Germany still intended to increase its spending on defence to 2 percent of economic output in line with the NATO target.

"In Wales in 2014, Germany supported the decision that we want to reach the agreed goal of 2 percent within the next decade and this commitment has not changed - that means we still intend to go down this route," Merkel told a news conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.