China puts quake losses in Sichuan at 67 bln yuan
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BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) - Direct economic losses from last week's devastating earthquake will amount to about 67 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in Sichuan province alone, the Chinese government said on Monday.
The losses stem from damage inflicted on 14,207 businesses in the province, Xi Guohua, vice minister of industry and information technology, told a news conference.
Based on official figures for gross domestic product in 2007, the direct losses amount to about 0.27 percent of China's GDP and 6.38 percent of Sichuan's.
The May 12 quake also caused a lot of damage to factories and mines in neighbouring Gansu and Chongqing, Xi said, without giving figures.
The estimates bear out the initial assessment of most market economists that the human toll of the 7.9-magnitude quake, which rose to more than 34,000 on Monday, will be much more severe than the economic impact.
Qian Wang, an economist at JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong, said the quake would cause less economic damage than the fierce snow storms that blanketed much of southern China in January or the summer floods that periodically damage agricultural harvests.
"The earthquake is more of a regional event, and Sichuan is an inland province located in the southwest of China and not a major manufacturing hub," Wang said in a report.
Sichuan contributes about 4.2 percent of China's total GDP, 2.5 percent of its industrial production and less than 0.2 percent of national exports, she said.
"And of course, there will be some offsetting addition to China's overall growth from post-earthquake reconstruction."
Other analysts, however, say the impact could be much greater.
CITIC Securities estimates that the quake will trim 2008 GDP growth by 0.2 percentage points and industrial output growth by 0.3 percentage points. ($1=6.977 Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Valerie Lee)
BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) - Direct economic losses from last week's devastating earthquake will amount to about 67 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in Sichuan province alone, the Chinese government said on Monday.
The losses stem from damage inflicted on 14,207 businesses in the province, Xi Guohua, vice minister of industry and information technology, told a news conference.
Based on official figures for gross domestic product in 2007, the direct losses amount to about 0.27 percent of China's GDP and 6.38 percent of Sichuan's.
The May 12 quake also caused a lot of damage to factories and mines in neighbouring Gansu and Chongqing, Xi said, without giving figures.
The estimates bear out the initial assessment of most market economists that the human toll of the 7.9-magnitude quake, which rose to more than 34,000 on Monday, will be much more severe than the economic impact.
Qian Wang, an economist at JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong, said the quake would cause less economic damage than the fierce snow storms that blanketed much of southern China in January or the summer floods that periodically damage agricultural harvests.
"The earthquake is more of a regional event, and Sichuan is an inland province located in the southwest of China and not a major manufacturing hub," Wang said in a report.
Sichuan contributes about 4.2 percent of China's total GDP, 2.5 percent of its industrial production and less than 0.2 percent of national exports, she said.
"And of course, there will be some offsetting addition to China's overall growth from post-earthquake reconstruction."
Other analysts, however, say the impact could be much greater.
CITIC Securities estimates that the quake will trim 2008 GDP growth by 0.2 percentage points and industrial output growth by 0.3 percentage points. ($1=6.977 Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Valerie Lee)
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