(Newswire.net — April 1, 2020) — The state finance minister of Germany’s Hesse region has been found dead, Bloomberg reports.
Thomas Schaefer, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, was found on Saturday on railway tracks at Hochheim, near Frankfurt.
According to the police, Schaeffer committed suicide. His office said Schaeffer was “deeply concerned” about the effects of the coronavirus epidemic on the German economy.
The 54-year-old finance expert was married and had two children. The Wiesbaden prosecution considers it a suicide.
Schaefer had been in charge of finance for the Hesse province for 10 years, which also houses Frankfurt, the financial center of Germany, as well as the seat of the European Central Bank and major German banks.
Schaefer’s colleagues said they were “shocked” by the news, noting that Schaefer worked tirelessly “day and night” to help businesses and employees adjust to the economic impact of the pandemic.
State governor Volker Bouffier linked Schaefer’s death to the virus crisis on Sunday. “I have to assume that these worries overwhelmed him,” Bouffier said. “He apparently couldn’t find a way out. He was in despair and left us.” Bouffier said in a recorded message.
The German Council of Economic Advisers said that because the country is in a virtual lockdown a recession will be inevitable.
According to the German Economic Institute (IW) if the current lockdown continues until the end of the spring, Germany would lose up to 10% of a GDP which would devastate the economy of what was EU’s wealthiest state.
Almost 1 in 5 German companies say they are at acute risk of insolvency due to the Covid-19 crisis. The government allocated nearly a $ trillion to help fight the crisis. The aid should keep firms afloat and prevent job employment. These measures come just in time to save businesses, however, too late to save Schaeffer’s life.