Pakistan will seek financial assistance from various agencies to help rebuild after heavy monsoon rains and floods that have damaged the country’s economy by more than $4 billion, the foreign minister said on Sunday.
At least 1,033 people died, more than 33 million died Influenced in Pakistan Flash floods caused by heavier than usual rains from the monsoon that started in June. Sindh and Balochistan are among his provinces devastated by floods.
Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan were caused by La Niña climate conditions with lower than average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
In a June weather forecast, the country’s climate change minister, Sen. It predicted above-normal rainfall through at least August along the coast. , Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, the central part of the Punjab region.
A NOAA diagram showing the impact of a La Niña on global climate patterns throughout the year. (NOAA/https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/lanina-faq)
“The early onset of monsoons following debilitating heat waves across South Asia is already wreaking havoc in parts of India and Bangladesh,” Rehman said. Said in a statement.
“There are also predictions that Pakistan could experience floods of similar magnitude to those in 2010, when a fifth of the country was flooded,” she added, urging local authorities to take precautionary measures.
The La Niña event also caused the extreme rainfall that caused flooding in Pakistan in 2010, killing at least 1,000 people and affecting 20 million people.
extensive damage
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the economic impact could exceed $4 billion from the destruction of bridges and buildings. Floods have also disrupted agricultural activities in Pakistan.
Declining foreign exchange reserves and high inflation will make rebuilding difficult for Pakistan, which already faces the risk of an economic default. Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive her $6 billion relief package signed in 2019.
The IMF Executive Board will decide this week whether to release $1.2 billion as part of the seventh and eighth tranches of the bailout program. Bhutto-Zardari said both sides had reached a staff-level agreement.
“Going forward, I hope that the international community and international organizations, not just the IMF, will truly grasp the level of devastation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.
The minister added that Pakistan will issue an appeal requesting UN member states to contribute to the relief effort, after which Pakistan will consider building a “climate-resilient” infrastructure.
“In the next phase, as we look to recovery and reconstruction, we will be talking not only with the IMF, but also with the World Bank. [and] Asian Development Bank,” he said.
united nations stated on August 25 Securing $3 million for UN aid agencies in Pakistan and their partners to focus on more vulnerable people and assist flood-affected areas;
disaster beyond expectations
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif has pledged 10 billion rupees ($125 million) to Balochistan, which is experiencing internet disruptions and blackouts as a result of heavy rains, Daily Pakistan report.
The floods also destroyed an important railway bridge linking Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, with the rest of Pakistan.
‘The scale of the disaster is larger than estimated,’ Sharif said twitter Saturday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Aldgra Fredly is a Malaysia-based freelance writer covering Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.