Ecuador quake to cost $3.4B in repairs

By Senabri Silvestre

SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep. (AA) – Reconstruction from an earthquake in Ecuador in April will costs $3.4 billion, the country’s National Secretary of Planning Sandra Naranjo said Wednesday.

The figure represents a negative impact of 0.7 percent GDP, excluding the government`s policies, losses in the trade sector or production that lost $35 million.

“The government is going to cover 67 percent of the total cost and the private sector, 33 percent”, Naranjo said during a press conference.

She itemized the cost, saying $1.4 billion will be invested in the social sector, $1 billion in production and $862 million in infrastructure and housing.

The figures come after an evaluation of the quake´s damage -- conducted for six weeks with the National Institute of Statistics, the UN and the Economic Commission for Latin America.

The magnitude-7.8 quake left 663 victims dead, 12 missing and 80,000 displaced.

There are also 22,000 people who have been left jobless in the hardest hit areas.

In Manabí province, unemployment has increased 3.4 percent and the local GDP fell 9.8 percent.

Ecuador`s government will cover the reconstruction cost with the resources obtained from tax measures implemented in the wake of the earthquake and with emergency funds from international financing agencies.