Sunday March 14th 2021
Around 5000 "zombie companies"
So far, lockdown has cost 50 billion euros
Shops, restaurants and hotels closed, no events, no trips – the first lockdown quarter is affecting the German economy. The Institute of the German Economy calculates a loss of around 50 billion euros. After the crisis, the bankruptcy wave is likely to roll in.
The corona lockdown will cost the German economy around 50 billion euros in the first quarter of 2021. This was reported by "Bild am Sonntag", citing a calculation by the Institute for the German Economy (IW) in Cologne. Overall, the decline in gross domestic product as a result of the Corona crisis amounts to 250 billion euros so far.
"The Corona crisis was and is a shock for the German economy, which is second to none," said IW Director Michael Hüther of the newspaper. The federal government's aid packages and short-time work allowance could have averted even worse consequences. "However, the disbursements of the aid took a long time, sometimes too long," he criticized.
The Institute of German Economy estimates the number of so-called "zombie companies" that only exist because the bankruptcy rules have been suspended at around 5,000. Due to the corona pandemic, the federal government suspended the obligation to register company bankruptcies, and this deadline was recently suspended postponed once until the end of April.
. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Lockdown (t) Insolvency (t) Institute of the German Economy Cologne