Germany pledges EUR2 billion to help start-ups through coronavirus crisis - Reuters

In a joint statement with Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said that the government is committing allocating EUR2 billion ($2.19 billion) to help support start-ups during the coronavirus crisis, as cited by Reuters. 

Meanwhile, Altmaier noted: “All the normal aid programs are of course also available to start-ups but we also want to do something for companies that have fewer options for obtaining credit lines and who benefit less from short-time working,”

“That’s why we have come up with this tailored 2 billion euro program which will help start-ups to survive this difficult time,” he added.

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EUR/USD remains heavy below 1.1000

EUR/USD spot faces a double whammy this Wednesday and remains heavily offered, in the wake of broad-based US dollar strength and poor Euro area Manufacturing PMIs, which reflected the economic fallout from the virus outbreak.

At the time of writing, EUR/USD trades at 1.0952, having hit a new daily low at 1.0931. The spot is losing nearly 0.70% on a daily basis.