Pakistan needs over $16b for recovery of flood damages: Report

Pakistan needs at least US$16.3 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood survivors and flood-hit areas respectively, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

A new report of Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) launched here on Friday, says that Pakistan needs the amount to support the country’s adaptation to climate change and overall resilience of the country to future climate shocks. 

The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives led the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), which was conducted jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU), the United Nations agencies with technical facilitation by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.

The report was launched by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Ayaz Sadiq and Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman.

The assessment estimates total damages to exceed $14.9 billion, and total economic losses to reach about USD 15.2 billion.

The report states that housing; agriculture and livestock and transport and communications sectors suffered the most significant damage, at $5.6 billion, $3.7 billion, and $3.3 billion, respectively.

Sindh is the worst affected province with close to 70 percent of total damages and losses, followed by Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, it adds. 

According to the report, the floods affected 33 million people and more than 1730 lost their lives. They are particularly impacting the poorest and most vulnerable districts. The situation is still evolving, with flood waters stagnant in many areas, causing water-borne and vector-borne diseases to spread, and more than 8 million displaced people now facing a health crisis.

The crisis thus risks having profound and lasting impacts on lives and livelihoods. Loss of household incomes, assets, rising food prices, and disease outbreaks are impacting the most vulnerable groups. Women have suffered notable losses of their livelihoods, particularly those associated with agriculture and livestock.

 The PDNA Human Impact Assessment highlights that the national poverty rate may increase by 3.7 to 4.0 percent, potentially pushing between 8.4 and 9.1 million more people below poverty line.

Multidimensional poverty can potentially increase by 5.9 percentage points, implying that an additional 1.9 million households are at risk of being pushed into non-monetary poverty.

Compounding the existing economic difficulties facing the country, the 2022 floods are expected to have a significant adverse impact on output, which will vary substantially by region and sector. Loss in gross domestic product (GDP) as a direct impact of the floods is projected to be around 2.2 percent of FY22 GDP. The agriculture sector is projected to contract the most, at 0.9 percent of GDP. The damage and losses in agriculture will have spillover effects on the industry, external trade and services sectors.