Altmaier Sees German Economy Growing Again From October

(Bloomberg) --

The German economy will recover from the coronavirus crisis and resume growth by October “at the latest,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Bild am Sonntag.

Altmaier expects the German economy to grow by more than 5% in 2021 after shrinking 6% this year, the newspaper cites him as saying in an interview.

The minister sees the number of jobless in Europe’s largest economy declining from November. His goal is to return employment numbers to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, he said.

At the same time, Altmaier said he’s “very concerned” by the rising number of infections in the U.S., because a pandemic spiraling out of control there would have grave consequences for the global economy.

He criticized the practice of bulk-buying coronavirus medication after President Donald Trump’s administration forged a deal last month to snap up almost all of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s supplies of remdesivir, one of only two medicines with a proven effect against Covid-19.

“Buying markets empty and monopolizing vaccines are an especially bad idea,” Altmaier told the newspaper. “The global community can only fight the virus together. Hopefully the U.S. president knows that.”

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