Germany’s DIHK chambers of industry and commerce expect Europe’s largest economy to shrink at least 10% this year due to the coronavirus crisis, its president said on Tuesday, a much more pessimistic view than the government’s forecast. A container ship leaves the port in Hamburg, Germany March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer “This year, and there is no way around it, we will witness a historic economic downturn,” DIHK President Eric Schweitzer said when presenting the association’s latest survey of industrial companies. The DIHK’s expectation for an economic plunge in the double-digit percentage range compares with the government’s forecast for a record contraction of 6.3% in 2020. “German businesses are facing their biggest challenge since the end of World War Two,” Schweitzer said, adding that many industrial companies were facing massive liquidity problems. The DIHK survey, conducted among some 10,000 industrial companies between May 4-6, showed three-quarters […]