Turkiye Earthquake Costs up to $84 Bln

The Enterprise and Business Confederation in Turkiye said the size of the damage caused by the deadly earthquake that struck the country, which claimed the lives of more than 31,000 people in Turkiye alone, may exceed $ 84 billion.

According to the Confederation’s statement, the quake caused damage to residential buildings by about $70.8 billion, along with another $10.4 billion in loss of national income, according to Bloomberg.

The federation added that the workforce losses could cost Turkiye's economy $2.9 billion, as the quake hit 10 provinces and badly affected millions of people in the country, as well as in neighbouring Syria.

The calculations of the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation were based on the 1999 earthquake, which was close to Istanbul, and claimed the lives of about 18,000 people, as the death toll from the current disaster exceeded by a large margin the 1999 quake, and thousands still missing.

The confederation’s statement estimated that damage to infrastructure, such as roads and electricity networks, as well as hospitals and schools, could raise the Turkish budget deficit to more than 5.4 percent of GDP this year, compared to official estimates of 3.5 percent.

The Confederation's estimates are the highest so far compared to those of other economists, although many, including Barclays, maintain that it is too early to assess the full impact of the disaster.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained that his government will finish rebuilding housing within a year, and initially allocated 100 billion liras ($5.3 billion) for relief from the repercussions of the great earthquake.