The new lockdown in France will have adverse effects on the country’s economic growth, says French Finance minister Bruno Le Maire Friday. President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that the country will be locked for the third time on Saturday. France is one of the EU countries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and the measures taken resulted in an economic contraction of 8.8% last year.
The impact of the new one-month lockdown is not yet known. Le Maire says he will be able to clarify the economic consequences in the coming days.
“The measures will affect economic growth in 2021. We are still investigating the impact and will come up with a new assessment in the coming days”, said the French Finance minister.
Macron chose a new lockdown on Wednesday, due to the rapidly increasing number of coronavirus infections and alarming reports from hospitals in and around Paris. The intensive care units there are overflowing with coronavirus patients. The French president pointed out that his country is on its way to 100,000 Coronas. “We’ll lose control if we don’t act now,” he said.
The coronavirus is on the rise in continental Europe. In addition to the coronavirus measures in France, those in Germany were also extended. In Belgium, the government also took additional steps to curb the virus, but these measures are now wavering, after a judge ruled that all Belgian coronavirus rules had to be removed within 30 days.