Before the federal-state meeting on the corona pandemic, Minister of Economics Altmaier warns of the virus spreading further. By the end of the week, the minister expects 20,000 new infections a day. Because of the situation, he believes that many entrepreneurs will be dependent on government aid for longer.
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier has expressed concern about the further development of the corona pandemic and the resulting economic consequences. "In Germany the number of new infections increases every day by 70, 75 percent compared to the week before," said the CDU politician at the Franco-German Business Day in Berlin. "We'll probably have 20,000 new infections a day by the end of this week – a number that we couldn't even imagine three weeks ago."
At the end of September, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that there could be 19,200 new infections a day by Christmas. At the time, this forecast was considered a pessimistic scenario.
Altmaier said the tense corona situation was making the economic recovery more difficult. "The fact that in almost all European countries we have restrictions in everyday life and thus also in economic life, of course, means that growth in Europe is not going back quite as quickly as we had hoped some time ago "he explained. Many companies would therefore need government aid for longer.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with the prime ministers of the federal states on Wednesday to limit the spread of the pandemic. Because of the talks, the federal government's new economic forecasts will also be postponed – by two days to Friday.
Insiders had recently told Reuters news agency that the government will be a little more optimistic for this year, but still expect a 5.5 percent drop. The economy should then recover in 2021 – with growth of 4.4 percent. Altmaier had recently emphasized that this is only possible if the number of new infections does not go through the roof.
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