The German Institute for Economic Research Ifo warned today that the coronavirus delta option could potentially have a serious impact on the economy, as the number of cases could rise again, DPA reported.
“The Delta option is a serious threat to the German economy,” Ifo CEO Clemens Fuest said in an interview with the news portal T-online.
Not all will be lost if infections increase again because of the option, but economic recovery will be hampered, especially industries that have been hit hard by the pandemic, namely travel, restaurants and retail, the DPA notes.
“In that case, we would be facing a difficult autumn,” Fuest warned.
In Germany, the share of cases with Delta almost doubled in the first week of June to 6 percent, according to the Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control.
In the UK, the option peaked, although the vaccination campaign there was faster than in Germany.
Fuest said he said the crisis was not over.
Without the pandemic, the economy would have grown in the last year and a half, but “instead we have accumulated a mountain of debt during that time,” he said.
“We will feel the effects of the crisis for a long time,” he added.
Recently, Ifo economists lowered their growth forecasts for the German economy to 3.3 percent, citing supply chain problems affecting China’s electronic chips, which are key to the automotive industry.
Ifo has calculated that pre-crisis levels could be reached early next year.
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