Europe's economic revival is imperiled, raising the specter of a grinding downturn

“The rich countries have shown they are willing to put their credibility on the line to support the others,” said Christian Odendahl, the Berlin-based chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “That will stabilize expectations about the European economy going forward.”

But he was struck by Lagarde’s reticence in pledging further action last week. “I would have expected her to be a bit more aggressive, and say, ‘OK, if this continues, we will need to do more,’” Mr Odendahl said.

...“It comes at a bad time,” said Mr Odendahl. “Neither for Britain nor for the E.U. do you necessarily need disruption to your trade relationship while trying to keep your economy afloat during a pandemic.”