The Finance Minister of Hesse state of Germany, Thomas Schaefer has committed suicide. Schaefer was 54. On Saturday, he was found dead near a railway track. Volker Bouffier said Schafer was seen as a successful governor since 2010. However, he was extremely stressed about the financial problems and economic turbulence after the coronavirus crisis in Germany.
Bouffier said in a recorded statement, “We are in shock. We are in disbelief and above all, we all are immensely sad.”
Schaefer had worked very hard to support businesses in the state including Germany’s financial capital of Frankfurt. It has the largest airport in the country. He was very concerned about meeting public expectations due to pandemic said Bouffier.
“I have to assume that those fears just overwhelmed him. He evidently saw no way out. He was distraught and left us.”
According to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, police sources are saying the coronavirus crisis was mentioned in Schaefer suicide note. Schaefer belonged to Merkel’s centre-right CDU party. He was popular and very respected and had long been seen as a possible successor to Bouffier.
In recent weeks Schaefer was speaking about the need for optimism during the crisis. He was trying hard to make things right. The crisis that threatens to send Europe’s most important economy into a deep recession, was just too much for him to handle.
What Bouffier Went On To Say?
Bouffier said, “Schaefer was the right person to help, we need him in difficult times like this”. Germany is going through a very rough time due to coronavirus pandemic.
On April 15, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany are 132,210. In which 72600 patient is recovered and 3495 have died. Currently, 56,115 patients are still infected and 51,827 are in mild condition and 4288 are in critical condition.”
Germany was being pushed by the coronavirus outbreak into a recession in the starting months of this year. As a result, the output in the largest economy of Europe has contracted by up to 5.4% this year. This was confirmed by Germany’s council of economic adviser said that.
The economic situation would normalize in a few months after the summer. Despite that, the economy would contract by 2.8% this year, before potentially growing by 3.7% next year. In a report handed by the advisors to the government on March 23 said,” The coronavirus outbreak has stopped the incipient recovery. The German economy will shrink significantly in 2020″.
What Happens Next In Germany?
The Ifo Institute for Economic Research said that the output could decrease by 20%. This year, on the other hand, the Germany Economic Institute said it could shrink by 10%.
Over 1.3 million tests were conducted in Germany and ‘contact tracing’ is their central strategy.
Emily Haber, the German ambassador to the United States said during an online briefing call last week to reporters which were organized by the Meridian International Center in Washington that, “We can not state there is a specific German template”
Due to the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the last few months, the government of Germany have taken very strict lockdown measures. It had ordered to close all non- essential shops and cancelled festivals, sports events and banned social contact among more than two people in public.
On an Easter Sunday, the German President Frank Walter said, “It does not pit nations against nations or soldiers against soldiers. Rather, it is a test for humanity”.
Despite that, the football has now resumed with a couple of games going on. The Bundesliga is back and hopefully, all football and other sports can resume soon as well. Two games will be played by each team every week. A lot of rules have been modified now to maintain social distancing. One of the key changes to remember is that there will be five substitutions per team now.
