Flood-ravaged Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif warns ‘all hell will break’ if rich nations don’t offer debt relief

PM Sharif said he’d spoken to European leaders about immediate debt relief, but noted ‘yawning gap’ between what Pakistan is asking for and what is available

The devastating floods have submerged a third of the country, displaced millions of people and caused more than US$30 billion in damages

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Pakistani women carry belongings salvaged from their flooded home in Qambar Shahdadkot district, Sindh province. Photo: AP

Published: 12:15pm, 23 Sep 2022

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made an urgent appeal for debt relief from rich nations as catastrophic floods exacerbated by climate change displaced millions of people in the South Asian nation.

Pakistan has debt obligations in the next two months, he said in an interview in New York, adding that his government had just signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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 US$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 noted a “yawning gap” between what Pakistan is asking for and what is available, warning that the nation is facing the imminent threat of epidemics and other dangers. “God forbid this happens, all hell will break,” Sharif said.