By Chathushka Perera
As public health in Europe continues to deteriorate due to Covid-19, the regional markets, including that of some of Germany, Europe’s largest economy, are in recoil.
The European Union has allocated 4.2 trillion Euros to stimulate national level economies by influencing a range of areas such as budget support worth 70 billion Euros, pandemic crisis support of 240 billion Euros, business financing of 200 billion Euros, short-term work funding (SURE) of 100 billion Euros and national liquidity measures worth 3,045 billion Euros.
However the German Central Bank, Bank of Spain and Bank of France having forecasted a drop in GDP of about 9.7%, 12.6% and 9% respectively by the end of 2020. Moreover, political in-fighting triggered in Spain as infection rates continue to grow would likely leave the national economic landscape in a deeper level of uncertainty.
Despite the current circumstances, the EU is optimistic of a rebound from the ongoing recession in 2021 provide the pandemic is controlled in time.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported that the total of Covid-19 cases in Europe have exceeded 5.6 million with the highest number of cases being reported from Russia, Spain, France, UK and Italy. The number of deaths so far amounts to 228,689.
