This is why the forecast is based on the assumption that around one-quarter of coronavirusrelated additional savings will be channelled into consumption in the next two years.3 It is therefore likely that the hard-hit services sectors will catch up with industry and that the pace of recovery in the country’s economy will converge again more strongly.
Overall, then, the normal level of capacity utilisation in the German economy could be exceeded as early as the start of 2022. Many people are worried that the spectre of inflation might return as the economy gets back on its feet, and that’s a concern I take very seriously.