Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday made an urgent appeal for a "substantial" debt relief from rich nations as catastrophic floods exacerbated by climate change displaced millions of people in the country. In an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York, he said Pakistan had high debt obligations in the next two months. PM Sharif said his government had just signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund with very tough conditionalities that include taxes on petroleum and electricity. The floods have submerged a third of the country and killed more than 1,500 people. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to help Pakistan financially as damages caused by the floods exceed $30 billion.

We have spoken to European leaders and other leaders to help us in the Paris Club to get us moratorium," Sharif said, referring to the group of rich creditor nations. Unless we get substantial relief how can the world expect from us to stand on our own feet? It is simply impossible, he added. He noted a yawning gap between what Pakistan was asking for and what was available, warning that the nation was facing the imminent threat of epidemics and other dangers. God forbid this happens, all hell will break, Sharif said. In August, Pakistan secured a $1.1 billion loan from the IMF to avert default as political turmoil and the deadly flooding threatened the country economy.

The IMF also increased the nation's bailout package to $6.5 billion. Sharif said he had spoken to the IMF and World Bank about immediate debt relief and would begin talks with China after the Paris Club. He mentioned that the disaster in Pakistan, already reeling from depleted currency reserves and the highest inflation in decades, had affected 33 million people. The prime minister urged the international community to help out Pakistan considering its damages due to climate-induced disaster, with 1,500 deaths including 400 children.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP