Berlin [Germany], February 20: Russia's Ukraine invasion resulted in considerable financial losses for German businesses, Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) President Peter Adrian has said.
"Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has, apart from the immeasurable human suffering, also brought with it losses in economic prosperity," Adrian told the Dusseldorf-based Rheinische Post newspaper.
He put the decline in German gross domestic product from the start of the war a year ago up to the end of this year at around 4%. "That means that $172 billion less has been produced.This was being shown in company accounts, with many businesses experiencing sharply rising costs for gas and electricity that were continuing to impact many companies. Adrian repeated a frequently heard complaint from German business that relatively high domestic energy prices are harming competition abroad.
The DIHK predicts that GDP will stagnate this year. This would still be an improvement from its autumn forecast of a decline of 3% for the year.Europe's largest economy grew 1.8% last year, according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, shrugging off pessimistic predictions based
on the war and the shutting off of Russian gas and oil supplies.
Source: Qatar Tribune