ISLAMABAD , March 21, 2023: The United States (US) Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Bloom on Tuesday said the US was standing beside Pakistan in difficult times and the US shared a history of economic growth with the country.
Addressing a USAID ceremony, he said the outgoing year had been hard for the country due to natural disasters adding that flood-hit areas still needed potable water and food. “The US government is providing an aid of US$200 million for the flood victims”, he added.
Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, while addressing the ceremony, said the flood affected one-third of the country in 2022 and causes a loss of US$31 billion to the country’s economy. “US$16 billion have been estimated for the immediate rehabilitation of the flood-affected areas”, he added.
Mr Iqbal said the government had started rescue and relief operations in the flood-ravaged areas adding that the rehabilitation phase was the most difficult. “It was for the first time in history that the government was not left with the development budget”, he added. The economy could be improved, he said, by a public-private partnership.