Catastrophic floods will drive up to 9 million Pakistanis into poverty: World Bank report

The monsoon flooding in Pakistan is set to drag between six and nine million people into poverty, the World Bank said on Thursday. Pakistan has been lashed by unprecedented monsoon rains this year which killed 1,700, devastated two million homes, and put a third of the nation underwater.

A World Bank report said Pakistan's poverty rate is expected to rise between 2.5 and fourpercentage points as a direct consequence of the floods.

Loss of jobs, livestock, harvests, houses, and the closure of schools, spread of diseases and rising food costs, threaten to put between 5.8 and 9 million in poverty, it said.

"Reversing these negative socio-economic effects is likely to take considerable time," it added.

Eight million people are still displaced and are living in ramshackle tent cities and scattered camps.

Around 20 per cent of Pakistan's 220 million population is already living below the poverty line, according to Asian Development Bank data.

The country has been battling a cost-of-living crisis, a nose-diving rupee and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. The World Bank said inflation in the country is set to stand at 23 per cent for the financial year 2023.

The Pakistan government and World Health Organisation have blamed climate change for the catastrophe that unfolded in the country. Pakistan is responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse gasses, but is high in rankingof nations vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change.

Islamabad has called for richer and more industrialised nations with larger carbon footprints to contribute to the aid effort as a form of climate justice.

"We have no space to give our economy a stimulus package, which would create jobs, and provide people with the sustainable incomes they need," said climate change minister Sherry Rehman on Tuesday.

(With inputs from agencies)