Japan quake still hurting trade

8 July 2011 Last updated at 02:13 GMT Japanese carmakers were some of the hardest hit, facing supply shortages and power cuts Japan's current account surplus fell sharply in May, as the 11 March earthquake and tsunami continue to affect exports.

The surplus shrank 51.7% to 590.7bn yen ($7.27bn; ?4.55bn) compared with a year earlier, said the Ministry of Finance.

However, that is less than most analysts had expected.

The data shows that while the economy continues to suffer from the disaster, it is recovering quicker than expected.

May's fall in the current account surplus marks the third straight monthly drop after the earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc in the north east of Japan.

In April the surplus was down 69.5%.

Trade deficit

Even as the supply chain recovers and manufacturers come back online exports are still suffering.

The data showed that exports fell by 9.8% in May from a year earlier.

While imports rose 14.7%, mainly because of higher energy costs.

That translated to the second-biggest trade deficit on record, the ministry said.

The current account is the broadest measure of a country's trade with the rest of the world.

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NZ to buy homes ruined by quake

23 June 2011 Last updated at 10:01 GMT The quakes have left parts of Christchurch uninhabitable New Zealand's government has agreed to buy more than 5,000 homes wrecked by Christchurch's devastating earthquake.

The authorities say areas of the city will have to be abandoned for several years and estimate the cost of buying the homes at NZ$600m (?300m; $500m).

Prime Minister John Key said the government was still considering whether a further 10,000 homes would have to be demolished.

February's earthquake killed 181 people and left thousands homeless.

The February tremor was part of a sequence of thousands of quakes and aftershocks that have hit the city since last September.

The government has divided the city up into four colour-coded zones - red, orange, green and white.

Mr Key said it would be three to five years before any rebuilding could take place in the red zone.

"A minimum of 5,000 homeowners were in a situation where they couldn't get a property rebuilt on their land for the entire time that their children were in high school," he said.

The government would offer to pay them for their homes or their land, depending on their insurance situation, he said.

A further 10,000 homes in the orange zone are still being assessed.

The government has been criticised for taking too long with the compensation claims.

But Mr Key said the Earthquake Commission had only recently been set up, and was dealing with 350,000 separate claims.

Meanwhile, the government has set up a website for residents to find out which zone their homes are in.

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