Economic growth in the eurozone and throughout the entire EU will "most likely" fall below zero this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a European Commission high official announced on Friday.
"We may say that it is very likely that growth in the Euro Zone and in the EU as a whole will fall below zero this year and, potentially, significantly below zero," Maarten Vervey said at a European Commission briefing.
In early February, the European Commission had presented its economic forecast, in which it was then counting on a growth of 1.2% in 2020 in the Euro zone.
The next forecast, expected in May, will be reviewed considerably downwards.
According to estimates, the direct impact of the crisis, will reduce GDP growth in 2020 by 2.5 percentage points compared to a situation without a pandemic.
"Given that the real GDP growth should be 1.4% for the EU in 2020, it could fall below 1% of GDP in 2020, with a substantial but not complete rebound in 2021," an EU document noted.
The Brussels Times
