Kenya: Chaos could cost $1bn
2008-01-08 20:07
Nairobi - Kenya's post-election violence and chaos may have cost the economy up to $1bn, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya said on Tuesday.
"It's an estimate of the slowdown in the economy because of loss of production. My estimate was about $1bn may have been lost," Kimunya told Reuters.
He said the estimate did not factor in the destruction caused by looters who went on the rampage when President Mwai Kibaki was pronounced the winner of the December 27 vote.
"I expect whether it's within the next couple of months or within a year ... that people will be able to recoup all that," Kimunya said.
The post-election turmoil disrupted trade on the currency and stock markets, and forced the weekly tea and coffee auctions to be postponed.
But the tea auction, which also serves Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique among others, resumed on Monday.
The central bank projects Kenya's economy will grow by 8% in 2008, compared with government forecasts of between 6.9 and 7.0% for 2007.
Kimunya said whether those targets were met depended on a speedy recovery.
"Depending on the rate of recovery ... Kenyans will eventually settle down and go on with their production. I expect probably our target will be met."