BERLIN: German service sector activity has contracted faster this month after restrictive measures were introduced to tame a second wave of COVID-19 infections, a survey showed on Monday.
IHS Markit’s flash services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 46.2 from 49.5 in October, sliding further below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and marking a second straight month of decline. A Reuters poll had predicted a drop to 46.3.
The survey also showed that activity in the manufacturing sector continued to grow, albeit at a slightly slower pace, offering support to an economy otherwise forecast to post its deepest recession this year since World War Two.
Activity in the factory sector eased to a still-healthy 57.9 from 58.2 in October, beating a forecast for a drop to 56.5.
“The resilience being exhibited by the manufacturing sector, which the survey shows is benefiting for growing sales to Asia in particular, supports our view that any downturn in the final quarter is expected to be far shallower than those seen in the first half of the year,” said IHS Markit’s Associate Director Phil Smith.
“The positive news surrounding the development of COVID vaccines has helped lift the spirits among German businesses, many of which are now hoping for a return to normality over the next 12 months,” he added.
“This looks to have been a supportive factor in the latest employment figures, which show factory jobs numbers moving closer to stabilization and services payrolls edging higher.”
Germany introduced a “lockdown light” on Nov. 2 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
IHS Markit’s flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors that together account for more than two-thirds of the economy, edged down to 52.0 from 55.0 in October.
COVID-19 lockdown hurts Germany’s services sector
https://arab.news/w243y
COVID-19 lockdown hurts Germany’s services sector
- Activity in the factory sector eased to a still-healthy 57.9 from 58.2 in October
- Germany introduced a ‘lockdown light’ on Nov. 2 to contain the spread of COVID-19
German spy chief warns of Russia threat to 2026 regional polls
- Sinan Selen said hat Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy chief warned Monday that Russia could step up sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns next year when the EU’s top economy, a strong backer of Ukraine, holds several regional elections.
Sinan Selen, head of the BfV intelligence service, said in a Berlin speech that Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent.
Speaking later to AFP, Selen said about Russian disinformation campaigns that “we’ve repeatedly seen that elections play a very significant role here, and as you know we have several state elections in Germany next year.”
Russia is blamed by Western security services for a spate of drone flights, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and online disinformation campaigns in Europe, which have escalated since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We are being attacked here and now in Europe,” Selen said in a speech marking 75 years since the founding of the BfV, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“In its role as a logistics hub for collective defense and support of Ukraine, Germany is more heavily targeted by Russian intelligence services than other countries,” he said.
“Above all Russia, as a hybrid actor, is undoubtedly aggressive, offensive and escalating. Its intelligence services employ a wide range of attack vectors from its toolbox.
“A clear sign of a highly dangerous escalation is the preparation and execution of sabotage attacks in Germany and other European countries, for which the Kremlin is considered the primary instigator. There is no sign of any relief in sight.”
Germany next year holds five regional elections, including in the ex-communist east, where the far-right and Moscow-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hopes to make further strong gains.
Selen, speaking about hybrid threats, said that “every sector of society can be affected, and this will be especially true in the coming year.”
The course of the Ukraine war would also strongly influence the actions of Russia, which Selen said “can scale the intensity of its sabotage operations at will.”
Selen added that “this war of aggression is more than a struggle for Ukrainian territory, it is a litmus test in the ongoing systemic conflict between authoritarianism and democracy in a multipolar and complex world.”
