Tsunami cost hits Jakarta shares

The stock market in Jakarta has seen its biggest slide in a month, after the country doubled the likely cost of rebuilding from the Asian tsunami.

The fall came as Indonesia said it expected debt repayments of up to 30 trillion rupiah ($3.2bn; £1.7bn) to be frozen to help pay for the recovery. By Monday's close, the Jakarta Stock Exchange was down 2.1% at 1,011.15. Bar a slight dip at the New Year, The JSE had risen steadily by 4.7% since the tsunami hit on 26 December. Construction and property companies in particular have gained ground, although banks were among the main fallers on Monday.

So far, more than 100,000 people are believed to have been killed in Indonesia, the country closest to the earthquake which triggered the great wave.

On Friday, the government said its five-year estimate of rebuilding costs for Banda Aceh province - much of which was flattened by the quake and the tsunami - was 20 trillion rupiah ($2.2bn; £1.1bn), twice what it had previously estimated. That cost could be defrayed by temporary debt relief. On Monday, Indonesian economy minister Aburizal Bakrie told reporters that the Paris Club group of creditor countries was expected to freeze 20-30bn rupiah in payments due in 2005 and 2006. "We hope we can resume the repayments at least from 2007," Mr Bakrie said. French finance minister Herve Gaymard said on Sunday that the Paris Club had already agreed to a moratorium on repayments for tsunami-hit countries ahead of its meeting on 12 January.
