by N. Peter Kramer
In the run-up to crucial European Council and European Central Bank meetings, EUROCHAMBRES has underlined the need to maintain measures in support of the many businesses throughout Europe that have been put at risk by the COVID-19 crisis.
Chambers across Europe are in regular contact with businesses struggling to dramatic survive the economic slowdown since March and EUROCHAMBRES President, Christoph Leitl, warned against a gap between winding down short-term crisis measures and rolling out recovery initiatives: “The crisis is certainly not over yet, so every instrument available should be optimised to help businesses get through the coming months.”
President Leitl highlighted the value of measures taken by the ECB since spring 2020. “While we must certainly pursue actions in the medium to long term to untap historically high levels of household savings and stimulate equity investment, reducing the risk to banks of lending to SMEs remains critical in the short-term. The ECB must bear this in mind tomorrow.”
