BBC :
The eurozone economy will sink deeper into recession than previously thought due to the effects of the pandemic, the European Commission (EC) has said.
The bloc will contract a record 8.7% this year before growing 6.1% in 2021. It compares with the EC’s May forecast of a 7.7% slump and 6.3% growth.
France, Italy and Spain will struggle the most, the EC said.
Its revised forecast comes amid concerns about the US economy after a surge in infections.
This has prompted several states to delay or reverse lifting restrictions.
Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement: “The economic impact of the lockdown is more severe than we initially expected.
“We continue to navigate in stormy waters and face many risks, including another major wave of infections.”
The Commission revised its previous forecasts because lifting coronavirus lockdown measures in eurozone countries was taking longer than it had initially thought.
Earlier growth forecasts for France, Italy and Spain were cut after they were hit hard by the pandemic, and the EC now expects downturns higher than 10% this year in each nation. By contrast, Germany, which had fewer Covid-19 deaths, will have a 6.3% contraction, less pronounced than May’s forecast of 6.5%.
The EC’s latest forecast assumes there won’t be a second wave of infections leading to renewed lockdown restrictions.
