Beirut explosions caused up to $4.6bn physical damage – W’Bank

THE World Bank has estimated the value of physical damage caused by the Beirut explosions to be between $3.8 billion and $4.6 billion.

  Nearly 200 were killed and thousands injured in the Lebanon city explosion.

  Xinhua quoted an initial assessment led by the World Bank as saying that “The country will need international aid and private investment to recover.”

  The assessment was in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU).

  Damage caused to homes, businesses, hospitals, schools, and streets contributed up to $3.5 billion economic loss.

  The World Bank noted that housing, transport and cultural assets are among the sectors worst affected.

   “The disaster will not only exacerbate the contraction in economic activity but also worsen poverty rates, which were already at 45 per cent of the population just prior to the explosion,” it said.