Govt expects $13bn in foreign flood aid over three years

As the cost of the flood protection plan goes up by almost 51 per cent even without its launch, Pakistan expects about $13 billion from international donor agencies and lending partners to finance nearly 80pc of the Resilient Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF) over the next three years. This is part of the estimated financing plan being finalised by the federal government in consultation with relevant ministries, agencies and provincial governments in line with post-disaster needs assessed by international aid and UN agencies. About $10bn of the funds are required, of which $7.9bn would be spent in Sindh and $2.2bn in Balochistan. The government has worked out an overall funding requirement of about $40bn over 10 years. This would need to be arranged in the long term through a combination of international financing, redirection of allocations made for existing public sector development programme (PSDP) and public-private partnership. The financing plan estimates about Rs3.6 trillion ($16.16bn), expecting $13bn (Rs2.9tr) from international development partners and about Rs730bn from local resources.