The skyline with its banking district is photographed during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, May 20, 2020, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues.
BERLIN: Around four-fifths of German firms with foreign exposure have experienced a collapse in revenues as a result of the coronavirus crisis, and 93 per cent expect global economic conditions to improve only in 2021 or later, according to a survey.
The survey for the German Chambers of Commerce showed the devastation wrought by the epidemic on Europe’s largest economy, with 15 per cent of the roughly 3,300 companies surveyed reporting a halving of their annual turnover.
But the focus of the impact was shifting: whereas lockdown-related travel restrictions had a major impact on sectors including tourism and industry earlier on, now companies were increasingly feeling the impact via slackening demand.
In July 59 per cent of respondents complained of ailing demand for their products and services, up from 57 per cent in April. Teething troubles like supply bottlenecks and production stops had become less of an issue, however.
The impact of the virus was also being felt in firms’ dwindling eagerness to invest: in July, more than half of firms were planning to invest less abroad, compared with only 35 per cent in April.
