Of course, it is too early to say that the European economy is rapidly recovering. Nevertheless, the situation is getting better. A surge in economic activity was triggered by cautious loosening of the restrictive measures introduced to combat the coronavirus disease. The national authorities of Germany, Italy, and Spain allowed some shops and workplaces to reopen. As a result, some indicators of economic activity resumed their upward movement. First of all, the recovery was recorded in such sectors as transport services and electricity supplies. "There are some tentative signs of improvement in economic activity in the high-frequency data such as increased electricity consumption in Italy and Spain and slightly less depressed footfall in German cities over the past week," Jessica Hinds, Europe economist at Capital Economics, said.
Yet she warned that it was still "very early days" and that other indicators "have yet to show much, if any, progress". However, even if the coronavirus spread is contained, the lifting of lockdown measures will take at least several months. Thus, the economic activity is likely to remain below its pre-virus levels until the end of the year. According to forecasts, in the first half of the year, the European GDP may drop by 10%.
