Japan 'needs five years and $235bn' to recover

Japan could need up to five years to recover from up to $235bn (£145bn) worth of damage from the Tohoku earthquake, according to a World Bank.

The disastrous earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the 11 March in north east Japan, has disrupted supplies in some of the country's largest industrial sectors. "Disruption to production networks, especially in automotive and electronics industries, could continue to pose problems," the World Bank says in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update. But the authors of the report predict growth should recover in the second half of this year, after dropping 0.5% so far in 2011. The effects of the disaster could spread to East Asia, the World Bank warns. "Clearly, given Japan's...