Earthquake costs

Pakistan: The cost of the rebuilding and reconstruction following last October's earthquakes in Pakistan has been put at US$ 10 billion. Previous estimates produced by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank put the cost of recovery and reconstruction at US$ 5.2 billion (iC, Dec 2005).

The new figure announced in late December by Pakistan's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authorities is almost double previous estimates but covers the whole country, not just the two worst affected areas. According to the Authority, the difference between its estimate and previous figures is also due to the cost of rebuilding the 400000 homes.