German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier expects a recovery in Europe’s biggest economy to continue despite a fourth wave of the coronavirus, he said on Wednesday.
“(There is) a clear prospect that we will not need any sort of lockdown for people who are vaccinated, double vaccinated and those who have recovered,” Altmaier told reporters.
“So it is guaranteed that economic activity can take place at a meaningful level for the whole year,” he told reporters.
The government has pumped more than 300 billion euros into the economy to help cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Altmaier stuck to the government’s estimates for growth of 3.5% this year and 3.6% next year. Earlier, the Ifo institute said German business morale fell for the second month running in August, as supply bottlenecks and rising COVID-19 cases drove companies to take a dimmer view of the coming months.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Christian Kraemer Writing by Madeline Chambers Editing by Kirsti Knolle and Thomas Escritt)