Germany's economy slumped in the first quarter at its steepest rate since 2009 with worse expected by mid-year, but it is weathering fallout from the coronavirus better than other EU states where outbreaks have been more disruptive.
BERLIN - Germany’s economy slumped in the first quarter at its steepest rate since 2009 with worse expected by mid-year, but it is weathering fallout from the coronavirus better than other EU states where outbreaks have been more disruptive.
A 10% economic contraction is widely forecast for that period, though “the exact extent of the slump depends in part on the easing of restrictions on public life,” said statistics office official Albert Braakmann said. Prospects are even worse, however, for peers including France and Italy where, respectively, coronavirus deaths top 27,000 and 31,000 and the economies contracted by 5.8% and 4.7% in the first quarter.
Even though the crisis is already tearing a huge hole in the public finances, Chancellor Angela Merkel plans a further stimulus package next month to help companies recover from the pandemic.Any pickup in economic activity is, however, going to be slow and dependent on how fast the wider euro zone recovers.
On the year, gross domestic product in Europe’s largest economy fell by 2.3% from January to March, Friday’s data showed.
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