Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Wednesday that the COVID pandemic would cause the deepest recession since World War Two.
His comments came on top of the government’s updated outlook. Berlin downgraded the estimate for GDP growth in 2020 to -6.3% from a 1.1% increase predicted in the first month of the year. The economy might bottom out in the three months to June and then recover. However, this scenario doesn’t consider a potential second wave of infections.
Altmaier told
media:
“We're facing major challenges,
both economically and politically.”
The government is more optimistic about 2021, expecting a rebound to +5.2%. Nevertheless, the report said that authorities had to gradually ease the lockdown measures in order to achieve that return.
On the other side, Altmaier said the country shouldn’t rush to lift the restrictive measures as this could lead to another wave of infections. Eventually, the economic damage can get worse.
“Because only if we
lift economic and social restrictions step-by-step, and with a sense of
proportion, can we start with the slow recovery in the second half of year,”
he minister said.
Europe’s largest economy has reported over 155,000 COVID
cases and more than 6,100 deaths.