Coronavirus will plunge German economy into recession - DIW

The coronavirus outbreak will massively impact the German economy in next two quarters at least, the DIW institute said on Thursday, adding that it expected Europe's largest economy to shrink by 0.1% this year.

The DIW institute said that its forecast was based on an optimistic V-shaped scenario in which a sharp drop of business activity would be followed by a quick rebound later this year.

However, the recession could turn out to be much more severe if the uncertainty among companies and consumers sparked by the new virus should persist, the institute added.