. Earth Science News .
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
NZealand quake cost heavier than Japan's: IMF

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) May 9, 2011
The earthquakes that struck New Zealand in September and February will eat up about 7.5 percent its GDP, more than the cost of the recent disaster in Japan on Tokyo's economy, the IMF said Monday.

The International Monetary Fund estimated that rebuilding after the Christchurch quakes will cost about 15 billion New Zealand dollars ($11.9 billion), a heavier burden on the national economy than Japan's 1995 Kobe quake and Chile's huge temblor last year.

"While the scale of damage from the recent Japan earthquake is still uncertain, it is likely to be less than the Canterbury earthquakes as a percent of GDP," or gross domestic product, the IMF said.

New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February, which claimed 181 lives and followed a more powerful but less destructive 7.1 quake in September.

IMF economists said the quakes would wipe about two percentage points of economic growth this year, and the economy would only grow by about one percent.

"The earthquakes destroyed assets equal to about 2-3 percent of the nation's productive capital stock, and will have temporarily reduced potential output," it said.

"The earthquakes have caused substantial damage and hurt confidence," the IMF's annual report on the New Zealand economy said.

"Large uncertainty surrounds the economic outlook, particularly related to the size and timing of reconstruction from the earthquakes."

It also warned that economic risks were "tilted to the downside", especially if emerging Asia's strong demand for commodities falters, and long-term interest rates rise.

But it said that reconstruction work, once it gets underway, will push growth up to four percent next year.

The IMF also said the local dollar was "moderately" overvalued and that housing also appeared significantly overpriced.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Clearing Japan tsunami homes, one shovel at a time
Ishinomaki, Japan (AFP) May 9, 2011
It oozes and reeks and sometimes it shimmers in oily rainbow colours. Millions of tonnes of putrid mud now fill every nook and cranny of Japan's tsunami disaster zone. Volunteers who have spent weekends shovelling it out of survivors' half-wrecked homes have developed an intimate relationship with the muck that soils their overalls, gloves and workboots. "It looks like layered chocolate ... read more







DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Japan nuclear evacuees make brief trip home

Japan's Kan declines PM's pay over nuclear crisis

China claims 'victory' in rebuilding quake zone

No country immune, UN chief warns as disaster risks grow

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Bats lend an ear to sonar engineering

Researchers get new view of how water and sulfur dioxide mix

Russia says fire put out near radioactive facility

More effective and less risky when you paint the hull of your boat

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Laos agrees to new study on Mekong dam

Green roofs as a cost-effective way to keep water out of sewers

Massive hydroelectric project gets green light in Chile

Tree rings tell a 1,100-year history of El Nino

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Stricken Russian nuclear icebreaker due at port: official

Nuclear leak forces Russian icebreaker back to port

Arctic warming could raise oceans 5 feet

Record Arctic warming to boost sea level rise

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Availability of Local Food Key to Improving Food Security

Soils of U.K., Europe drying out

Indonesia turns ASEAN focus to food, energy security

US farmers dodge the impacts of global warming at least for now

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Tropical storm Aere kills 15 in Philippines

Life pauses on rumbling Philippine volcano

Floods along mighty Mississippi swamp farms, homes

Bolivia at risk of megaquake: study

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Burkina Faso ruling party says opposition aiming for coup

Chinese army gives rocket launchers, weapons to Sierra Leone

Disaster-hit Japan will not cut aid to Africa: spokesman

Diehard pro-Gbagbo militia begin to disarm

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Indian brides told to put down their mobile phones

Super-healing researcher follows intuition

No nuts for 'Nutcracker Man'

Why the eye is better than a camera at capturing contrast and faint detail simultaneously


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement