The Indonesian government said Thursday the Dec. 26 tsunami that hit Aceh and North Sumatra had inflicted an estimated financial loss of 15 trillion rupiah, equivalent to around 1.7 billion US dollars.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a press conference the estimate was preliminary and simple, based on the range of areas and the number of buildings destroyed by the tsunami.

He said a further assessment would be conducted jointly by the government, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and several other countries.

"Only after that can we know how much the assistance is needed, whether 1 billion dollars or 2 billion," he said.

During the international meeting on tsunami in Geneva on Tuesday, several countries agreed to pledge 900 million dollars in assistance for a six-month period for Indonesia, he added.

The government also has estimated the domestic fund for an emergency period in Aceh will reach more than 2 trillion rupiah (222.2 million dollars), Kalla said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2005)