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Altmaier at the press conference
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) assumes that a second lockdown in the Corona crisis with potentially massive consequences for the economy can be prevented.
Rising numbers of infections will be counteracted by targeted and regionally limited measures, said Altmaier on Tuesday in Berlin.
This means that the economy could gradually pick up further in the coming months.
Altmaier said he was convinced that the number of new infections, which had risen again, could be reduced.
Given the course of the pandemic in key trading partner countries, the recovery process is likely to progress slowly and last for a while, according to a new forecast.
Business associations and experts had urgently warned of the consequences of a second lockdown for the economy.
The massive restrictions on the fight against the virus had resulted in an unprecedented slump in economic performance in the second quarter.
Economic forecast revised upwards
Altmaier also announced that the German government is revising its economic forecast for this year upwards.
The gross domestic product will collapse by 5.8 percent because of the corona crisis, he said.
So far he had assumed a larger minus of 6.3 percent.
"The recession in the first half of the year was less severe than we had feared," said Altmaier.
The post-lockdown recovery "is going faster and more dynamically than we dared hope".
The slump is therefore only slightly larger than in the year of the financial crisis in 2009, when the gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 5.7 percent.
It would still be the worst recession in the post-war period.
For the coming year, the minister is a little more pessimistic.
Growth of 4.4 percent is expected in 2021.
So far, the federal government had expected an increase of 5.2 percent.
Altmaier spoke of a V-shaped recovery.
Altmaier said the economy had started catching up after the lockdown in the spring.
In the second quarter, economic output slumped by almost 10 percent compared to the previous quarter due to massive restrictions on public life.
Recently there have been signs that the economy is slowly recovering.
However, some sectors such as the tourism industry or aviation continue to be heavily burdened.
The leaders of the black-red coalition recently announced that they would extend important instruments such as the simplified short-time work allowance.
This is to secure jobs.
Altmaier's new forecast, together with an upcoming special tax estimate, is also a basis for the 2021 federal budget.
Altmaier rejects higher taxes
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier rejects higher taxes due to the Corona crisis, regardless of the expected budget deficit.
"I am firmly convinced that tax increases are not a good idea at all," said the CDU politician in Berlin on Tuesday.
For this electoral term, he considers this to be impossible.
SPD candidate for chancellor and finance minister Olaf Scholz recently brought up higher taxes.
"In view of the many tasks that the state is shouldering now, it must be clear that people who earn a few hundred thousand euros can make a greater contribution to the financing of the community in the future," he recently told the "Rheinische Post".
"We need a tax system that is more performance-based."
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caw / Reuters / dpa
