Disruptions in its power supply and the potential for government assistance for Japan's Fukushima power plant operator, coupled with uncertainty surrounding the cost, could translate to additional problems for the fiscal health of the country, said Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday. Japan is already suffering from massive debt and facing the still-unknown costs of rebuilding in the wake of its triple catastrophe of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.
In a Reuters report, Tom Byrne, senior vice president of Moody's, said that although estimates of the cost of disaster relief and rebuilding in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami currently ran around 3-5% of GDP, "there is uncertainty attached to that." Byrne overseas sovereign credits for Asia and the Middle East.
He was quoted as saying, "A big source of uncertainty is from the power supply situation and that has not stabilized. There could be further costs."
