Germany’s economic recovery halted by 2nd Covid lockdown

Berlin, Feb 16 : The ongoing Covid-19 measures continue to weigh on the German economy in the first quarter of 2021, according to the monthly economic report published by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
The recovery after the end of the first Covid-19 lockdown in spring last year had “largely come to a halt for the time being in the wake of the second lockdown,” BMWi noted in the reported published on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
After a strong increase of 8.5 per cent in the third quarter, Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) only grew by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
Germany entered a lockdown in November when the second Covid-19 wave hit the country. Health regulations have since been tightened and the lockdown was extended until at least March 7.
Non-essential shops, restaurants and leisure facilities are closed and strict contact restrictions apply.
The “economic picture remains divided,” BMWi noted. While Germany’s industry sector continued to develop robustly, the service sector including hospitality, arts and entertainment was “heavily restricted” by the measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.