Islamavbad: Pakistan needs financial help to deal with “overwhelming” floods, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, adding that he hoped financial institutions such as International Monetary Fund would take economic fallout into account. Unusually heavy monsoon rains have caused devastating floods in both north and south of country, affecting more than 30 million people and killing more than 1,000.

“I haven’t seen destruction of this scale, I find it very difficult to put into words it is overwhelming,” said Bilawal in an interview with Reuters, adding many crops that provided much of population’s livelihoods had been wiped out. “Obviously this will have an effect on overall economic situation,” he said. South Asian nation was already in an economic crisis, facing high inflation, a depreciating currency and a current account deficit. IMF board will decide this week on whether to release $ 1.2 billion as part of seventh and eighth tranches of Pakistan’s bailout programme, which it entered in 2019.

He said that board was expected to approve release given an agreement between Pakistani officials and IMF staff had already been reached and he hoped in coming months IMF would recognise impact of floods.

“Going forward, I would expect not only IMF, but international community and international agencies to truly grasp level of devastation,” he said. He said economic impact was still being assessed, but that some estimates had put it at $ 4 billion. Given impact on infrastructure and people’s livelihoods, he said he expected total figure would be much higher.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 29 2022

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