Reports on damage to businesses and infrastructure remain sketchy so far from the tsunami-devastated areas of South Asia. But economists and other observers suggested the economic effects will be widespread, with tourism heavily impacted and heavy industry escaping the worst damage.
Insurers hesitated to put numbers on the devastation in the absence of hard information. Lloyd’s of London, the world’s biggest specialist insurer, said it’s too early to give a damage estimate. Munich Re Group, an insurance risk researcher, told German television that the catastrophe has caused damage in excess of $13.6 billion, although this was based on a ‘‘gut feeling.’’
It appears that most areas struck by the tidal waves were not heavily industrialised. One sector that appears relatively unscathed is petroleum. Analysts in the US and major oil companies operating in South Asia said there had been little if any effect on exploration, production and shipping facilities from the earthquake and resulting tidal waves. But the financial impact could be widespread. IDEAglobal, the economic research and forecasting company, estimated that the disaster would subtract 0.5 per cent from Thailand’s 2005 GDP and cut Indonesia’s by 0.2 per cent. — LAT-WP
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