The German economy will stagnate in the first quarter of 2021 after the national lockdown was extended by mid-February, economists from the ifo research institute predicted
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The German economy will stagnate in the first quarter of 2021 after the national lockdown was extended by mid-February, economists from the ifo research institute predicted.
"Every additional week in lockdown leads directly to losses in sales, production and added value," Timo Wollmershauser, the deputy director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, said in a press release.
The Munich-based economic institute said that the economy would rebound by 3 percentage points in the second quarter from the previous period if the curbs were lifted at least by March.
"This means that collapse will be followed by a quick rebound of an equal proportion. This is what we observed last year," Wollmershauser explained.
Returns of service providers affected directly by the shutdown will go back by the same amount as last spring, the economists said, while the industrial sector will again be spared and is expected to pick up the slack in the first quarter.
