The European Commission on Wednesday downgraded the growth forecasts for the Eurozone and the European Union and said the region is set to witness a recession of "historic proportions" this year due to the "major shock" from the coronavirus, or Covid-19, pandemic and the consequent lockdown.
Eurozone is forecast to shrink a record 7.75 percent this year, but grow 6.25 percent next year, the executive arm of the EU said in its Spring 2020 Economic Forecast.
The EU economy is projected to contract 7.5 percent this year and expand around 6 percent in 2021.
Growth projections for both EU and euro area were revised down by around nine percentage points from the previous forecast.
"This is a symmetric shock: all EU countries are affected and all are expected to have a recession this year," Valdis Dombrovskis, EU vice president for economic affairs, said.
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