Pakistan will ask international lenders for billions of dollars in loans after devastating floods exacerbated the country’s economic crisis, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
“We are not asking for any kind of measures [like] rescheduling or moratorium,” Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif told the Financial Times. “We are asking for additional funds.”
The FT quoted Shehbaz as saying the country needed “huge sums” for “mega-undertakings” such as rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure that had been damaged or washed away.
The report said the prime minister did not say how much money Pakistan was asking for, but reiterated an estimate of $30 billion in flood damage.
Earlier this month, the United Nations increased its humanitarian appeal for Pakistan fivefold from $160 million to $816 million, as fears of an unprecedented rise in water-borne diseases and hunger. Floods have created new hazards.
The European Union also increased flood aid to 30 million euros.
The depreciation of the Pakistani rupee is also raising the cost of imports, borrowing and lending, and will push up inflation already at multi-decade highs.
An estimated $30 billion hit to the economy from the floods, coupled with growing concerns about Islamabad’s ability to raise funds to meet its external financing needs, has worsened the situation.
