Who Bore the Brunt of the Pandemic in Europe? Shifting Private Stress to the Public Sector

In Europe, the severe human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic was compounded by the deepest fall in economic activity in modern history. Yet this huge decline in output did surprisingly little damage to the aggregate financial balance sheets of firms and households. This paper discusses how unprecedente...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Arena, Marco
Other Authors: Chen, Ruo, Cuevas, Alfredo, Foda, Karim
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. International Monetary Fund 2021
Series:Departmental Papers
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: International Monetary Fund - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:In Europe, the severe human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic was compounded by the deepest fall in economic activity in modern history. Yet this huge decline in output did surprisingly little damage to the aggregate financial balance sheets of firms and households. This paper discusses how unprecedented policy support transferred private sector income losses to the public sector’s balance sheet and contrasts this experience to that of the global financial crisis
Physical Description:45 pages
ISBN:9781513577494