Pakistan foreign minister stated on Sunday that the country needs financial assistance to deal with the “crushing” floods.
He also expressed optimism that financial organizations like the International Monetary Fund will consider the economic impact.
Disastrous floods have affected More than 30 million people floods in both the north and south of the country as a result of unusually strong monsoon rains, which have also claimed more than 1,000 lives.
In an interview with Reuters, Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, “I haven’t seen the destruction of this scale, I find it very difficult to put into words… it is overwhelming.
He stated, “Obviously this will have an effect on the overall economic situation.”
With soaring inflation, a declining currency, and a current account deficit, the South Asian country was already experiencing an economic catastrophe.
Pakistan joined a bailout program in 2019 and this week, the IMF board will determine whether to disburse $1.2 billion as part of the seventh and eighth tranches.
Bhutto-Zardari stated that He also expressed optimism that the IMF will recognize the effect of the floods in the upcoming months.
With soaring inflation, a declining currency, and a current account deficit, the South Asian country was already experiencing an economic catastrophe.
Benazir Bhutto’s son, Bhutto-Zardari, stated that although the economic damage was still being calculated, some estimates placed it at $4 billion.
Given its effects on agriculture, Pakistan’s central bank has previously warned that the country’s economic production was in danger from the record monsoon rains.
Bhutto-Zardari stated that Pakistan will publish an appeal this week asking United Nations members to contribute to relief operations and that the nation needs to consider how it would tackle the longer-term effects of climate change.
“In the next phase, when we look towards rehabilitation and reconstruction, we will have conversations not only with the IMF but with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank,” Bhutto-Zardari said.
After relief operations, according to Bhutto-Zardari, the nation would need to consider how to build infrastructure that is more resistant to both floods and droughts and how to deal with the significant changes the agriculture industry is experiencing.
