Reforms inevitable for economic recovery after floods, WB tells Pakistan

World Bank Vice President for South Asia Martin Raiser said Sunday that Pakistan would have to introduce financial reforms to cope with the economic crisis being faced by the country after the cataclysmic floods caused by climate change.

In an interview with Geo News, Martin Raiser said Pakistan will have to take internal measures along with help from the international community.

Referring to the post floods situation in Pakistan, he said that the country has been badly affected by climate change.

The vice president of the global lender said that the international community needs to help Pakistan, however, Islamabad also needs to implement financial reforms.

"In order to recover from the devastations caused by floods, Pakistan needs a roadmap," he added.

Raiser said that Pakistan would have to take internal steps as the citizens are already disturbed by massive electricity bills. "This is why the [authorities] are facing losses in distribution and the prices are high."

In this regard, he suggested that it was imperative for Pakistan to bring reforms to its energy sector.

The vice president also said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has assured implementation of reforms as they are important for long-term investment.

On Friday, the World Bank said that Pakistan will have to take "tough" decisions for economic recovery and hoped that the country will focus on reforms as promised.

"We acknowledge that it will be difficult for Pakistan to work on the reforms considering the economic situation of the country after the floods as they have caused enormous damage," said the World Bank.