Nepal may need US$4bil to US$5bil (RM16bil to RM20bil) to rebuild after this week’s devastating floods, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle said, a bill equal to nearly a tenth of the economy.
“The initial estimate is between US$4-US$5bil. Just an estimate,” Wagle said.
“We will require much less than what we needed for the 2015 earthquake. Loss and damage is being assessed.”
Wednesday’s flood levelled towns in the border area, sweeping away bridges and roads and damaging major hydropower stations.
Wagle did not elaborate on why the reconstruction bill was expected to be less than the US$9bil spent after the 2015 magnitude-7.8 quake, Nepal’s worst recorded disaster. It killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed more than half a million homes and caused losses estimated at around a third of Nepal’s economy.
The floods will nevertheless be a major blow to an economy reliant on remittances, tourism and hydropower, damaging power projects that account for more than 12% of national generating capacity. — Reuters
