Officials said that in addition to the dead, another 96 people were missing or unaccounted for.

The death toll reported by officials had been as high as 802, but authorities have revised that downward. A week after the quake, officials had said 497 bodies had been identified, but the latest figures were showed fewer casualties.

"Twenty days after the earthquake, it is still difficult to measure its impact," Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said in announcing the new figures.

Hinzpeter also said the number left homeless was now estimated to be 800,000, down from earlier reports of around two million. The number of homes destroyed, he said is believed to be 200,000, or less than the half-million figure earlier reported.

The figures were the first from the new government of President Sebastian Pinera, who was sworn in March 11.

The Chilean government has formed a panel to determine the number of people killed in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in an effort to sort out contradictory toll figures released by different government offices over the past two weeks.

Chile mulls new tax to fund reconstruction
Santiago, Chile (UPI) Mar 19, 2009 - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera is considering a selective tax hike to raise cash for a $30 billion reconstruction program that looms large after the huge Feb. 27 earthquake and numerous aftershocks.

Pinera took office less than two weeks after the 8.8-magnitude temblor struck, only to see many of his election pledges challenged by the disaster.

Foremost among Pinera's pledges was a visionary plan to move Chile forward with cash that was available before the quake struck. In his campaign speeches Pinera promised to create 1 million jobs, reduce income disparities and facilitate poverty reduction.

Now the government's priority is to rush aid to stricken areas and create 60,000 jobs where destruction has caused unemployment while depriving citizens of basic amenities, education and healthcare.

More than 200,000 homes were destroyed by the earthquake and resulting tsunami and more than 2,750 schools and 35 hospitals have had to be abandoned until they are rebuilt.

The government's plan is to raise the royalty tax on the country's mining sector, Chile's most important earner mainly through copper exports.

The current 5 percent royalty tax went into effect in 2005 and earned the government more than $570 million in 2008. Before his election Pinera indicated he favored privatization of copper mining but had no public intention to raise the tax.

The earthquake forced him to shift priorities, however. Earnings from a mining tax increase will be minuscule when compared with the amounts required for reconstruction. He told Chileans in a televised address the earthquake damage was equivalent to 17 percent of the country's gross domestic production.

Pinera indicated his election targets for economic development would be slower to achieve but he remained optimistic that the goals would be met before the end of his term in 2014.

Responding to skeptics, Pinera said he was committed to a "responsible" macroeconomic policy that would allow the Chilean economy to remain competitive and achieve fiscal balance.

Market analysts expressed concern that Chile's economic targets may have been skewed by the devastating earthquake.

Pinera reminded skeptics that he had to take into account not only the earthquake but also the effects of the 2008 economic downturn that his predecessor, Michele Bachelet, had to cope with.

Chile was severely hit by the economic crisis, partly because of its economy and markets being connected with global markets more closely than its Latin American neighbors.

The government's optimism about funding the gigantic repair and reconstruction program is based largely on current prices of the copper price, which is about $3 a pound compared with 70 cents a pound in 2005. It is expected to remain high in the coming years as copper demand is seen to increase in the coming years by about 8 million tons.

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