German economy likely to contract by 3-6% this year - BDI

• Germany, Europe’s largest economy is in virtual lockdown with more than 100,000 people cases and 1584 deaths from the pandemic
• The German economy is likely to shrink by 3-6% this year, according to the head of BDI
• The economy shrank by 5.7% in 2009 and a contraction of a greater amount is expected in 2020

BERLIN, April 6 (Reuters) - The German economy is likely to shrink by 3-6% this year, the head of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI), Federation of German Industries industry association said on Monday, adding that this forecast was based on economic activity being disrupted for a maximum of six weeks.

Europe’s largest economy is in virtual lockdown. Schools, shops, restaurants and sports facilities have closed and many firms have stopped production to help slow the spread of the disease.

Germany is in virtual lockdown, with more than 100,000 people infected and 1584 deaths from the pandemic. The economy had fared well during the first two months of the year - before Germany went into virtual lockdown in March - and the virus has taken a heavy toll on the economy since mid March probably reaching its peak in May.

“The declines I’ve talked about will probably be at least as bad, if not even worse than with the banking and stock market crisis of 2008/2009,” Altmaier said, without giving an exact prediction.

The German economy shrank by 5.7% in 2009.

“This means that after 10 good years of economic growth, we’ll have a recession again this year for the first time since 2009,” Altmaier added.