By Mohsin Ali
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the recent floods in Pakistan will not cause major damage to the country’s economy. According to the IMF, the overall economy has not been seriously affected.
But on the ground, things look very different. In many villages, homes are still buried under rubble. Where there were once stacks of grain, now there is only muddy water.
Children look at their mothers at mealtime, not at empty plates. Mothers wait in the dark for husbands who will never return.
Villagers Feel the Real Cost of Pakistan Flood Impact
While newspapers call the losses “minor,” villagers feel the pain differently. They have lost family members, crops, homes, and livestock.
For a small farmer, losing animals or a crop can be devastating. And if a farmer is already drowning in debt, floods only make things worse. Seeing headlines that say there is “no big economic loss” feels almost like a cruel joke.
The IMF measures “major damage” by its effect on the national economy. But for ordinary people, damage is measured by lost lives, ruined livelihoods, and destroyed homes. Every lost animal, crop, and household matters.
Government Response and Economic Numbers
The government says it can cover flood-related costs from its emergency funds. The country’s growth target for this year was 4.2 percent, which may now drop slightly to around 4 percent.
This has led some to say that the IMF is avoiding responsibility, calling the losses “minor” while millions of people face poverty.
In villages like Pirwala, a single farmer who has lost his paddy crop considers this his biggest loss. Stakes that once held animals now stand empty. Every animal is gone, and the farmer’s economy has been wiped out.
Pakistan Flood Impact in Perspective
Meanwhile, negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF are ongoing. Pakistan is expected to receive two loan tranches worth over $1.2 billion.
Total economic losses from the floods have been estimated at around Rs 360 billion, though the full extent is still being calculated.
To put it in perspective, the 2022 floods in Sindh caused $10 billion in damage. Current estimates for this year are five to seven times higher.
Yet these numbers fail to reflect the real suffering. The rural economy has collapsed, leaving thousands of people behind.
In the darkness of night, mothers stare blankly as their children ask questions they cannot answer. Women wait for husbands who ventured into floodwaters and never returned.
Children go hungry, but they don’t ask for food—they cry, “Mom! When will Baba come?”
Numbers and economic models may call the flood’s impact small, but for the people on the ground, the damage is devastating and deeply personal.