Post-disaster Reconstruction Could Cost Japan Up to $225 Billion

Posted June 6th, 2011 at 9:00 pm (UTC-5)
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A top Japanese research institute says reconstruction efforts in Japan could cost the government between $175 billion and $225 billion during the next decade.

The Japan Research Institute said Monday the damages following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami would cost Japan more than $110 billion this year alone.

The private institute says the government should set aside another $60 billion toward the effort this fiscal year, in addition to some $50 billion allocated for an emergency reconstruction fund soon after the disaster.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reports the estimate does not include costs to address the nuclear crisis at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and recover the land submerged by the tsunami.

The institute based its estimate on government announcements of disaster-related damages. It assumes the state will support affected people at a level provided after the massive earthquake in Japan's Hyogo region in 1995.