Quake to reduce Japan's 2011 growth by 1.5 percent
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Japan's economic growth is forecast to be reduced by 1.5 percentage point this year due to the country's production disruptions from the deadly earthquake, a South Korean research institute said Wednesday.
"The 9-magnitude quake and the subsequent tsunami, which hit the northeastern region in Japan, is expected to cut the nation's economic growth rate by 1.3 to 1.5 percentage point in 2011," Ku Bon-kwan, a senior researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), said in a report.
Ku said output in the world's third-largest economy will likely be diminished amid damaged production facilities and planned power outage, adding that potential losses from the radiation leaks are too large to gauge.
The researcher, however, noted the reconstruction-related investments may boost the nation's growth by 0.7 to 1.1 percentage point this year.
