FRANKFURT, July 21 — The new EU recovery plan will help the bloc bounce back faster from economic devastation triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and grow in 2021, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said today.

After a marathon four days of talks, European Union leaders agreed on an unprecedented €750 billion (RM3.7 trillion) stimulus package to help the bloc weather a historic downturn, including €390 billion in grants for the hardest-hit member states.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Altmaier called the deal "good news for millions of people in Germany and across Europe.

"It will ensure that it will be easier for many people survive the crisis and that the recovery will happen faster than would have been the case otherwise,” he said.

Altmaier added that the breakthrough in Brussels had "greatly increased” the chance that Germany, Europe’s top economy and an export powerhouse, will experience "a cautious, slow recovery” from the end of October.

He said the situation would be "similar” in several EU member states, while others in the 27-nation club would only feel the full economic impact of the pandemic in the second half of the year.

"But I expect that in 2021 all member states of the EU will again enter a phase of growth and recovery,” he forecast.

The German government expects Europe’s biggest economy to contract by a record six per cent this year, but then grow by more than five per cent in 2021.

The European Commission expects the EU economy to contract by 8.3 per cent in 2020 before rebounding and expanding by 5.8 per cent in 2021. — AFP