Early estimates, according to Pakistan’s planning minister, indicate that the devastating floods that struck the nation had cost at least US$10 billion in damage.
He made this statement shortly after another government minister said that a third of South Asia’s country had been drowned.
Separately, Pakistan received a $1.1 billion rescue from the IMF on Monday (IMF).
The goal of that funding is to prevent the debt-strapped economy from going into default.
More than 33 million people, or over 15% of the population of the country, were affected by the flash floods brought on by the record monsoon rains, which have killed at least 1,136 people.
In addition, the heavy rains have destroyed bridges, crops, residences, and other infrastructure including highways.
“It’s going to be tremendous, in my opinion. According to a very early, preliminary assessment, it is significant and exceeds $10 billion “Ahsan Iqbal, the minister of planning for Pakistan, made this statement to Reuters.
According to Mr. Iqbal, the nation will experience severe food shortages in the upcoming weeks and months, and the floods are worse than the ones that struck Pakistan in 2010, which were the deadliest in the nation’s history and left more than 2,000 people dead.
In addition, he urged wealthy nations to provide financial aid to Pakistan, claiming that nation was suffering from climate change brought on by the “irresponsible development of the developed world.”
Miftah Ismail, Pakistan’s finance minister, suggested Pakistan should think about importing vegetables from its bitter foe India to help with food shortages.
Sherry Rehman, the nation’s minister of climate change, referred to the situation as a “humanitarian calamity of epic proportions caused by climate.”
According to Ms. Rehman, “literally one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we’ve seen in the past.”
Pakistan was in the midst of an economic crisis and had been in talks with the IMF about a bailout even before the floods.
In light of the nation’s struggling economy and an annual inflation rate of about 25%, official data released in recent weeks revealed that the country only has enough foreign currency in reserve to cover around one month’s worth of imports.
“Pakistan’s economy has been buffeted by adverse external conditions, due to spillovers from the war in Ukraine, and domestic challenges, including from accommodative policies that resulted in uneven and unbalanced growth,” IMF deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh said in a statement regarding the $1.1 billion bailout.
The statement made no mention of the floods.
Flooding is caused by a variety of variables, but climate change’s warming of the atmosphere increases the likelihood of extreme rainfall.
Since the start of the industrial period, the world has already warmed by around 1.2C, and temperatures will continue to rise unless governments drastically reduce emissions.
