German Shoppers Gloomy As Virus Mars Holiday Season

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published November 26, 2020 | 02:11 PM

German shoppers are heading into the annual holiday season feeling more downbeat about money and jobs, a key survey showed Thursday, as the country battles a second coronavirus wave

Frankfurt am Main, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2020 ) :German shoppers are heading into the annual holiday season feeling more downbeat about money and jobs, a key survey showed Thursday, as the country battles a second coronavirus wave.

The GfK institute's forward-looking assessment of consumer confidence fell to minus 6.7 points for December, down from a slightly revised minus 3.2 in November.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government introduced new measures in November to halt a rapid rise in coronavirus infections, closing restaurants, hotels, sports and cultural centres.

"Only a noticeable decrease in infection numbers and a loosening of the restrictions will bring more optimism again," GfK's Rolf Buerkl said in a statement.

Merkel and the leaders of Germany's 16 states agreed late Wednesday to extend the measures until December 20 at the least.

Although the shutdowns are milder than the lockdown imposed during the first coronavirus wave in the spring, the curbs have slammed the brakes on the economic recovery that started over the summer.

The GfK survey of some 2,000 people found that respondents were more pessimistic about Germany's economic prospects as well as their own income expectations.