In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil predicted that Germany’s economic growth might fall to 1.4 percent -1.5 percent this year, down from 2.7 percent in 2021, with an average of about 590,000 employees on reduced-hours layoff schemes throughout the course of the year.
Heil stated, ‘We will continue to grow. But all of this is contingent on the war not spreading farther and the energy supply remaining in place,’ he continued.
If the situation worsened, the government would provide more aid and support for layoffs whenever possible to protect jobs, Heil added.
According to a document seen by Reuters on Friday, Germany aims to offer more than 100 billion euros ($108.8 billion) in aid to enterprises affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
In the next weeks, Finance Minister Christian Lindner plans to present a supplementary budget to parliament to reflect the war’s economic cost, which is expected to be worth at least 24 billion euros.
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