Country’s tattered economy suffers another blow: PM

PM says according to early estimates the damage to infrastructure may be up to two per cent of the GDP.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that  the country’s economy, which was already in tatters due to the war on terror, has suffered yet another major blow due to the floods.

He said that the floods have caused unprecedented devastation in Pakistan and according to early estimates the damage to infrastructure may be up to two per cent of the GDP.

He pointed that Pakistan has been passing through a crucial phase of its existence as flood devastation across the country was far greater as compared to the destruction caused by the earthquake in 2005.

“The calamity is not yet over and we are still in the middle of a disaster,” the prime minister said, adding that “we are literally in hot water.”

Gilani reiterated that the government has been seeking every possible measure to rescue and rehabilitate the flood victims in the country, adding that rehabilitation process for flood displaced people will start soon.

“The government’s top priority is to reconstruct the damaged or destroyed infrastructure.”

He appealed to the international community to help tackle the devastation caused by the floods adding that every eighth Pakistani has been affected.

The prime minister expressed these views while visiting a relief camp in Pir Sabak village near Risalpur, along with the wife of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Emine Erdogan.

Lauding Turkey’s help during the floods, Mr Gilani recalled that Turkey had played a prominent role during the 2005 earthquake as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2010.