The German official statistical agency said on Thursday that the German economy suffered a massive blow during the closings imposed by the Corona pandemic and recorded a historical contraction of 10.1% during the period from April to June of the second quarter of 2020.
This is the biggest downturn in the German economy since it began collecting quarterly growth statistics in 1970. The severe health restrictions caused by the new Corona virus caused everything in the country to be closed from bars to car agencies.
Restrictions were subsequently restored with caution, and the German economy began to recover and return to a situation before the Coruna epidemic. But senior economists say that the situation is still far from the pre- epidemic level and that the situation will continue until 2022 at the very least.
The German government launched a stimulus package worth billions of euros in the form of emergency loans, credit guarantees and tax exemptions to reduce the impact of the epidemic.
The leaders of the 27 European Union countries also reached a historic economic recovery plan to face the emerging crisis of the Coronavirus, which is funded for the first time by a shared debt.
The EU faces a historic recession, which the European Commission can borrow on the market. This amount is distributed between $ 390 billion in aid and 360 billion euros in loans.
Aid is provided to the countries most affected by the Coruna epidemic. It represents a shared debt that the 27 countries must pay collectively. As for loans, the beneficiary countries must repay them.