The measures taken by many European countries to control the second wave of the coronavirus create much additional economic uncertainty for businesses and families. President Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank (ECB) stressed that the heavy toll the virus measures are taking on the services sector, which accounts for three quarters of jobs in the euro area, is of particular concern.
According to Lagarde, this major impact could slow down the recovery of the eurozone economy and increase inequality.
“The recovery remains very uncertain, uneven and incomplete,” said Lagarde in a panel discussion with the UK, China and Japan central bank heads on Sunday. ‘It is clear that both state aid and monetary policy must be used as long as is necessary to prevent the economy from falling off a cliff.”
The ECB will meet in less than two weeks before its next policy meeting. The outlook for the euro area economy has deteriorated rapidly in recent times as a result of the additional measures, making economists very much looking forward to what the central bank decides to do there.