Quoting figures from the report compiled jointly by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the European Union on recent unprecedented monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal on Friday informed that the damage caused by floods to human life and property in Sindh, Balochistan and southern Punjab had been estimated at over $30 billion, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.       

Addressing a function in Islamabad, he appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to relax strict conditions it had imposed on Pakistan. “The country needs $16 billion in order to provide immediate relief to flood-hit people,” he told the gathering.  

He further said such a colossal was the loss that the country could not make up for that even if it spent 40 per cent of its development budget. “It is time that the international community shared with Pakistan the responsibility to cover this loss. 

Ahsan disclosed that rains and floods had wreaked havoc in 20 poorest districts of the country. “Apart from that millions of people have been displaced,” he said, and added, “Similarly, millions of children in flood-affected are suffering from malnutrition.”  

The minister said that so far Rs70 billion had been disbursed among the flood victims under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). 

Similarly, he went on to say, Rs9 billion had been released to small farmers so that they could purchase seeds.   

He said the government was working on a project which would enable the people affected by floods to cope with the phenomenon of climate change. 

Minister warns PTI against taking law into hands: 

Later talking to the media, Ahsan said that the law would take its course if Imran and his supporters took the law into their hands during the PTI’s long march on Islamabad. 

He said that general elections in the country depended on the national census. “Next elections will be held in October, 2023,” he said.  

Reporter: Waqas Azeem