German opposition leader seeks military procurement reform

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will eventually have to spend more than 2% of economic output on defence but must first reform its procurement system to get more bang for its buck, opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is tipped to become the next chancellor, said on Thursday.

"I want us to spend the necessary funds we spend much more efficiently; we can get more for our money and therefore the procurement system needs to be changed," he told a gathering in Berlin.

Merz dismissed the recent call by new U.S. President Donald Trump for Germany to spend as much as 5% of economic output on defence, saying it would first take huge efforts for Berlin to simply reach the 2% NATO target within its regular budget.

"We will have to do a lot more for our own defence but frankly I don't think much of these numbers that are thrown into the air," he said.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Editing by Miranda Murray)

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