NEPI Rockcastle provided an initial update concerning the impact of the COVID-19 related government measures on its activities in an announcement dated 17 March 2020. Since that date, the authorities in Romania, Serbia and Croatia have increased the safety measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. New measures include temporarily limiting the operations of some of its shopping centres’ tenants.

NEPI Rockcastle is donating €150,000 to the International Red Cross Organization aimed for supporting the efforts of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The amount of money will be distributed according to the current medical needs and will be used for the purchase of disinfectant substances or items vital in slowing the spread of the virus. Public awareness campaigns will also be supported.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause multiple disruptions to the world’s industries and economies and this is also true for many CEE currencies. Those countries that have not adopted the Euro, or are not pegged to it, have each seen a ca. 10% depreciation in currency value during the period February to March 2020. The Romanian Leu is the exception which has depreciated just 1%, largely due to central bank intervention, Colliers reports in its CEE Special Insights Series.

Governments in the region keep introducing economic aid packages. Property Forum’s daily summary looks at the measures taken to ease the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on households and businesses.

Erste Bank Group anticipates an economic slowdown for 2020 in most CEE countries due to the coronavirus situation. The bank’s report mentions a negative scenario as well, which would result in a massive recession in the region.

Austria’s economic growth curve is set to follow a V-shaped course in the wake of the coronavirus and the containment measures implemented, according to Bank Austria, a member of UniCredit Group.

The government authorities in all countries where Immofinanz owns and operates retail properties have recently imposed restrictions and implemented various measures to contain Covid-19. These measures affect various aspects of everyday life, among others through the temporary shutdown of retail facilities. Exceptions have generally been made for stores, which sell basic supplies like supermarkets and pharmacies, drugstores, post offices, banks, pet food shops etc. Moreover, access to public areas has been limited or similar recommendations have been issued. Immofinanz supports these measures in the interest of public health and safety.

Property Forum collected the latest measures taken in CEE countries to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

Property Forum provides a comprehensive summary of the most important coronavirus-related measures that have been introduced in CEE countries. All of them have implemented a number of restrictive measures to slow down the spread of the virus and several governments have announced plans to help companies hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis and to stimulate the economy.

According to Colliers International’ COVID-19 Insights, it will take until at least Q2 2020 for the investment market to come to terms with what is a very sharp economic global shock and a potentially deeper economic shock for Europe.