BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The temporary reduction in value-added tax (VAT) until the end of the year would only stimulate consumption in Germany moderately, according to a study published by the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) on Monday.
Almost 75 percent of Germans did not intend to change consumer behavior in the second half of 2020 despite the temporary reduction in VAT in Germany, according to the survey among 6,300 Germans conducted at the end of June.
The survey also found that only around 14.4 percent of Germany's working population planned to bring forward purchases that were originally scheduled for a later time.
Germany's economic stimulus package worth 130 billion euros (154 billion U.S. dollars) was passed in June in order to stimulate private consumption and to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
The stimulus package includes a temporarily reduced VAT from 19 percent to 16 percent for a total expected cost of around 20 billion euros as well as a child bonus of 300 euros for which around 4.3 billion euros were made available. Enditem
