German economy forecast to lag eurozone growth until 2026
The German economy is expected to significantly underperform the eurozone average until at least 2026, according to the European Commission's Autumn Forecast released on Friday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has tested negative for coronavirus for the third time, according to the spokesperson Steffen Seibert
Seibert said in a statement that Merkel will continue to carry out her official business in quarantine in the coming days.
Merkel has put herself into at-home self-quarantine since March 22, after she learned that a doctor who gave her a vaccination for pneumonia two days earlier tested positive for the virus.
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Last week, Germany has approved a massive and unprecedented financial aid package of 156 billion euro ($166.5 bn), the largest in the country since the Second World War, to offset the socio-economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany has already closed down schools, non-essential shops and urged people not to gather in groups but has not yet imposed blanket limits on group gatherings.
Merkel has kept working through telephone and video links.
Earlier, Merkel appealed to citizens’ “reason and empathy” in implementing the contact restrictions, saying she had been “very moved” by how closely people had stuck to less stringent measures implemented in recent days.
More than 35,000 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus pandemic since it emerged late last year in China, most of them in Europe.
In total, 35,905 people have died, including 26,076 in Europe. Italy has the most deaths with 11,591, following by Spain with 7,340 and China with 3,304.
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