N.Z. Quake Damage May Be NZ$4.9 Billion, Goldman Says

Damage from New Zealand’s worst earthquake in eight decades may total as much as NZ$4.9 billion ($3.6 billion) and take four years to repair, according to a Goldman Sachs report.

The damage estimate is higher than the Treasury Department’s provisional NZ$4 billion forecast because of aftershocks since the initial 7 magnitude temblor rocked Canterbury province on Sept. 4, Philip Borkin, an economist at Goldman Sachs & Partners New Zealand Ltd. in Auckland, said in the e-mailed report.