Christchurch Quake Rebuild Soars 33% to NZ$40 Billion, Key Says
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The rebuilding of Christchurch, New Zealand’s third-largest city that suffered a major earthquake in February 2011, will cost a total of NZ$40 billion ($33.9 billion), an increase of 33 percent from a December estimate, Prime Minister John Key said.
“This is the largest and most complex, single economic project in New Zealand’s history,” Key said in an e-mailed statement today. “The scale of the rebuild is unprecedented. That always meant that it would be difficult to get an exact handle on the total estimated cost straight away.”