The economic cost of the worst natural disaster in Japan's history continues to rise. Experts are saying the devastating combination of earthquake, tsunami and now - the deepening nuclear crisis, is likely to result in bigger-than-expected financial losses for the world's third largest economy. A week after the nation's worst natural disaster, the threat of a nuclear meltdown is emerging as the biggest threat to the country's economic recovery.
日本历史上最严重的自然灾害的经济成本在持续攀升。专家们说，地震、海啸，以及目前不断加深的核危机形成了毁灭性的灾难组合。这有可能导致这个世界第三大经济体蒙受比预期更大的金融损失。在地震发生一个星期后，核危机正在成为日本经济复苏所面临的最大威胁。
At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, water cannons spray jets of water to cool overheating nuclear reactors. But scientists say that's like using a squirt gun to put out a forest fire.
在福岛核电站，高压水炮喷洒着水柱，给过热的核反应堆降温。
Market analyst Will Hedden says uncertainty over the outcome is driving volatility in financial markets. "We are still in a state of panic. And we are still not seeing any end in sight to that volatility and a lot of worries persisting over the ongoing problems in Japan," he said.
市场分析师威尔·海登(Will Hedden)说，不明朗的后果在金融市场掀起波动。他说：“我们仍然处在恐慌状态。我们仍然没有看到波动有任何结束的迹象，而且对日本正面临的问题存在大量忧虑。”
Japanese officials say damage is now likely to cost more than the 1995 earthquake in Kobe that resulted in losses of more than $100 billion.
日本官员说，这次灾难造成的损失可能超过1995年神户地震造成的损失。那次地震造成的损失超过1千亿美元。
"The early estimates from analysts and economists is $180 billion in damages. Of course the crisis is escalating. If you throw in the radiation scare and people from overseas are going to stop coming to Japan, the hit on tourism - obviously the number could go up from there," said Nathan Layne, Reuters Tokyo Bureau Chief.
路透社东京办公室总编辑内森·莱恩(Nathan Layne)说：“分析人士和经济学家的初期预测为损失1800亿美元。当然，危机仍在加剧。如果这当中再出现辐射恐慌，外国人就不会到日本来。这会对旅游业造成打击 - 显然，这个数字可能会更高。”
Adding to worries is damage to the country's power grid. Auto analyst Paul Newton says rolling power outages have severely crimped factory production, especially in auto plants across the country. "Companies are not producing vehicles simply because of the power outages, not because they're short of components or had their plants devastated. It's really a question, they can't make them, there's no electricity," Newton said.
日本电网遭受的损坏也引发了新的担忧。汽车分析师保罗·牛顿(Paul Newton)说，周期性停电已经严重影响到工厂生产，尤其是遍布日本的汽车工厂。他说：“公司停止生产汽车的原因仅仅是停电，而不是因为它们缺少配件或者因为工厂被毁。这的确是个问题。他们无法制造汽车，因为没有电。”
But some see light at the end of the tunnel.
但是一些人还是看到了一丝希望。
"The difference again between this event and the one in 1995 is that northeastern Japan is not a manufacturing hub of the Japanese economy. We've seen several factories shut down most notably in the auto industry, rolling power outages to conserve energy - that could also impact exports in the short run but once the reconstruction effort is under way, that could eventually boost the economy," said Nicolas Szechenyi, who heads Japanese studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
华盛顿智囊机构战略与经济研究中心日本研究主任尼古拉斯·塞切尼(Nicolas Szechenyi)说：“这次灾难和1995年地震的区别在于，东北部地区不是日本的制造业中心。我们已经看到一些工厂关闭，尤其是汽车业，周期性停电是为了节约能源 - 这也对出口造成短期影响。但是一旦重建工作启动，那将最终会刺激经济。”
Japan is expected to finance reconstruction by selling government bonds.
日本可能会通过出售政府债券为重建融资。
But experts say that will have long term implications for the future of the world's third largest economy -- increasing the price of Japanese goods and adding to the nation's already high debt load, now roughly double its gross domestic output.
但是专家们表示，那样将会对这个世界第三大经济体的未来造成长期性的影响，也就是将推高日本商品价格，并且为国家已经背负的巨额债务增加新的负担。目前日本负债大约是其国内生产总值的两倍。 |