German Finance Watchdog Says the Worst of COVID-19 Crisis Is Yet to Come

The deadly virus outbreak has created a major stir around the world in recent times infecting more 25.7 million people worldwide

The financial regulator of Germany is expecting the worst of the coronavirus or COVID-19 crisis is still to come, although there was no immediate threat to financial stability due to the pandemic.

But as many nations in Europe and beyond see increasing coronavirus infection rates and the governments struggle with how to respond. BaFin President Felix Hufeld stated he was concerned about the weakest 20 percent or 30 percent of the institutions he monitors.

Worst of COVID-19 Still to Come

Coronavirus
Workers make face masks in the workshop of a textile company in Jimo District of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 12, 2020. Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology has mobilized two large textile companies to produce face masks to help the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic. With the help and coordination of local authorities, the companies have retrofitted their production equipment and modified the assembly lines to produce face masks. It's expected that an average of 60,000 face masks could be produced per day in the first phase of production. (Photo by Liang Xiaopeng/Xinhua/IANS) Xinhua/IANS

"We will not get out of this thing painlessly. That much is for sure. The hard part is still to come," Hufeld said on Wednesday at a banking conference at which he and other panelists were separated on stage by plastic screens.

Earlier, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing forecast that the economy would not return to normal this year or next and that many sectors will be running at 70 percent-90 percent capacity, with 'serious consequences'. "Many companies will have to adjust to this and manage to be profitable with longer-term lower revenues," Sewing said.

(With agency inputs)

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