Islamabad, June 5: Hit by devastating floods back in 2022, Pakistan had received hefty financial aid from international authorities to repair the massive damage in its aftermath. However, Islamabad has utilised little more than 29.4 percent of the total money out of the total pledged amount of $3.36 billion by international donors and local funds of $364 million till May.
A meeting to review the progress of flood recovery held on Tuesday was told that the financial progress of 29.4 percent was achieved by utilising $1.091 billion till May countrywide.
The 4th meeting of the International Partners Support Group (IPSG) at the Prime Minister’s Office, chaired by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema was told that only an amount of $258.89 million was used, against the allocated funds of $829.4 million.
According to UNICEF, the 2022 floods submerged one-third of the country, affecting 33 million people, half of whom were children. The floods damaged most of the water systems in affected areas and damaged substantial amounts of infrastructure, forcing more than 5.4 million people to rely solely on contaminated water from ponds and wells.
The total estimated damage from the floods currently stands at PKR 3.2 trillion ($14.9 billion), with a total loss of PKR 3.3 trillion ($15.2 billion).
As of now, Pakistan has received over $2.8 billion from international creditors against the $11 billion pledges made in the Geneva Conference for the flood-affected population so far, though it has used less than half the money, instead using a large chunk of it on non-flood-related issues.
Compared to the massive amount required for reparations, only a small amount has actually been spent on ground out of the $2.8 billion, with over $1.35 billion being disbursed for the issues of oil financing and budgetary. The then-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had said that almost 90% of the pledges made by the international community at the Geneva conference for flood-hit Pakistan were project loans that will be disbursed over the next three years.
