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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - According to a survey, the current corona lockdown hits Germany's medium-sized companies a little less severely than the restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020.

“Many have learned from the experiences of the previous year and, in addition to business models, obviously also adjusted cost structures,” explained Fritzi Köhler-Geib, chief economist at the state development bank KfW.

In addition, the economic recovery in summer and autumn probably helped to replenish liquidity reserves.

The state aid measures also contribute to stabilization.

Above all, falling demand and the associated loss of sales are causing problems for companies.

According to the survey carried out this January, around 2.6 million or 68 percent of medium-sized companies are currently struggling with the consequences of the hard lockdown.

That is about 220,000 more companies than last September, but significantly fewer than in spring.

At that time, 80 percent of small and medium-sized companies felt affected.

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The assessment runs through almost all economic sectors: industry, construction and even service providers.

According to the survey, the companies only felt similarly strong effects as in the case of the restrictions last spring in the wholesale and retail trade.

According to KfW, the risk of over-indebtedness remains manageable across the board of SMEs.

The equity base was on average extremely solid before the start of the pandemic.

However, the majority of medium-sized companies (47 percent) assume that the consequences of the crisis will last longer with them.

On average, these companies expect their business activities to return to pre-crisis levels in around 10.3 months, i.e. around November 2021, provided that the further pandemic fight is successful.

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Another 17 percent of the companies expect that they will never again reach the pre-crisis level.

Compared to June 2020, when the question was first asked, this is an increase of 8 percentage points.

"The increasing duration of the cuts as a result of the Corona crisis is leading to an increasing number of companies with uncertainty regarding the continuation of their business activities," explained Köhler-Geib.

This is likely to intensify the long-term reluctance to invest on the part of companies and impair innovative strength and future competitiveness.

Overall, however, according to Köhler-Geib, the current survey paints an almost surprisingly stable picture of the situation in SMEs.

"That speaks for the adaptability and inventiveness of companies in Germany."

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210208-99-346026 / 2