Pakistani flood recovery could take three years, minister warns

The country’s new finance minister said it could take Pakistan “nearly three years” to recover from devastating floods that killed more than 1,700 people and displaced another 7.9 million.

Ishaq Dar, who took the finance role for the fourth time in his career last month, said the damage from the floods was estimated at more than £28bn and the cost of rebuilding damaged infrastructure would exceed £14bn.

Monsoon rains, which could be made worse by climate change, hit Pakistan for months starting in mid-June, damaging or washing away two million homes.

Mr Dahl said rebuilding “cannot be done overnight” and would “probably take almost three years”, although he admitted he was “not an engineer”.

The World Bank last month pledged £1.8bn in flood aid.

Mr Dar is returning to the Treasury during difficult times in Pakistan. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Pakistan’s government debt this month, citing falling foreign exchange reserves.

Pakistan’s currency, the rupee, has fallen 19% against the dollar this year as inflation has risen by more than 20% year-on-year.

But Mr Dahl, who was known for his support of a strong rupee during his earlier tenure as finance minister, noted that after he returned to work, the rupee has risen — up nearly 10 percent against the dollar since the end of September.

Mr Dahl is in Washington this week for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The start of the visit did not go well.

Arriving at Dulles International Airport on Thursday, he was questioned by an unidentified person and called a “thief.”

On Friday, he dismissed the incident, which was captured on video and shared online, believing it was the act of political opponents of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s government.

“Obviously this is a domestic politics that crosses borders,” Mr Dahl said. “That shouldn’t be.”