THE HAGUE, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The crisis surrounding the novel coronavirus has an unprecedented negative impact on the Dutch economy, the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) announced on Tuesday.

The social distancing measures imposed by the Dutch government to counter COVID-19 have led to a decline in economic activity of between 10 and 15 percent. According to the latest forecast by the CPB, under a scenario which assumes a moderate recovery, GDP would decrease by 6 percent in 2020, followed by an increase of 3 percent next year. In addition, unemployment would double.

"Current uncertainty poses major dilemmas for the government," CPB Director Pieter Hasekamp stated in a press release. "During the recovery phase, a controlled phase-out of government support measures would be desirable, but the extent to which the government can withdraw depends on the pace of economic recovery."

The latest CPB forecast is close to the worst-case scenario of 7.7 percent GDP decline in 2020 it outlined on March 26 this year. If a second wave of COVID-19 infections occurs, the GDP would, according to the CPB, also decrease in 2021, as that would lead to renewed social distancing measures, under which companies would face additional problems and unemployment would rise more.

Last week the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), issued a similar message about the economy. "The economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic is of such severity that a deep, almost globe-spanning economic recession is unavoidable," the DNB stated.

The DNB predicted the GDP for 2020 to drop 6.4 percent, almost doubling the decline seen in the credit crisis of 2009. Gradual recovery is expected to set in halfway through 2020, resulting in a GDP growth of 2.9 percent in 2021 and 2.4 percent in 2022.