US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Germany on Monday unveiled a package of measures worth up to 750 billion euros ($ 808.43 billion) to mitigate the effects of the outbreak of coronavirus, with Berlin intending to take on new debt for the first time since 2013.
“This is a very large package with many measures,” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said during a press conference with Economic Minister Peter Altmaier, adding that Germany will double the number of beds in intensive care units.
An additional federal budget of € 156 billion, to be financed by new loans, underscores Berlin’s determination to use “everything we have” to deal with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, Scholz added.
The government expects the coronavirus pandemic to plunge the economy into recession, while Scholz said his budget plans are based on the assumption that this year’s GDP will fall by about 5%.
A deep recession in Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, is now inevitable given the crisis due to the coronavirus, but the state budget may well cope with this situation, according to a monthly report from the country’s central bank on Monday.
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