German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that “the recession in the first half of the year turned out to be less severe than we had feared.” “Overall, we can say that at least for now, we are dealing with a V-shaped development,” he added.
The government has revised up 2020 GDP forecast, from -6.3% contraction to -5.8% contraction. That’s still the biggest decline since WWII, surpassing 2009’s -5.7%. For 2021, GDP growth forecasts was revised down to 4.4%, from prior estimate of 5.2%. The economy will not recover to its pre-pandemic level until early 2022.
Exports are expected to drop -12.1% in 2020, then rebound by 8.8% in 2021. Private consumption is forecast to drop by -6.9% in 2020, then rebound by 4.7% in 2021.
