Quake, tsunami could cost Japan $235 billion: World Bank

SINGAPORE: The massive quake and tsunami of March 11 could cost Japan’s economy up to $235 billion, or 4.0 percent of output, but reconstruction will spur recovery later this year, the World Bank said on Monday.”If history is any guide, real GDP growth will be negatively affected through mid-2011,” the World Bank said in its latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update report.It added that growth should pick up in subsequent quarters “as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate”.The lower end of the World Bank’s estimate of the twin disasters’ impact was $122 billion, equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product. – TOI