The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided a lifeline on Monday, releasing $1.17 billion in bailout funds to prevent the South Asian country from defaulting on its debt as it grapples with political and economic turmoil exacerbated by unprecedented flooding. About 33 million people — or 15 percent of the population — have been affected by the floods and heavy rains, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). At least 1,136 people, including 386 children, have been killed and 1,634 injured since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said on Monday, as incessant rain raised fears of more casualties. The floods have also destroyed key infrastructure, including more than 130 bridges and nearly half a million houses, according to the NDMA. “By the time this is over, we could very well have a quarter or a third of Pakistan under water,” Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman told Turkish news agency TRT World on Thursday. Even before the floods, Pakistan had suffered disproportionately from the climate crisis, according to researchers and aid groups. Last year, Pakistan was ranked the eighth most affected country by climate change from 2000 to 2019, in the Global Climate Risk Index by the non-profit group Germanwatch. In a statement on Monday, IRC Pakistan country director Shabnam Baloch said the country “suffers the consequences of the world’s inaction” on climate change “despite producing less than 1% of the world’s carbon footprint”. A lack of sanitation facilities and clean drinking water has exacerbated the risk of disease spreading in the flooded areas, with nearly 20,000 people in need of critical food and medical support, Baloch added. “Our needs assessment showed that we are already seeing a big increase in cases of diarrhea, skin infections, malaria and other diseases,” he said. “We are urgently asking donors to step up their support and help us save lives.”
IMF bailout
The funds earmarked for release by the IMF on Monday are part of a 2019 bailout deal to “put Pakistan’s economy on the path to sustainable and balanced growth,” according to the IMF. “Pakistan’s economy has been hit by adverse external conditions, due to spillovers from the war in Ukraine and domestic challenges,” Antoinette Sayer, the IMF’s deputy managing director and deputy president, said in a statement on Monday. The IMF has been criticized in the past for imposing severe austerity on recipient countries, forcing governments to cut social programs and privatize national industries. The conditions imposed by the IMF have forced Pakistan’s government to take unpopular decisions such as raising electricity tariffs and doubling the cost of fuel amid soaring inflation.
