Economic outlook dire for Pakistan flood victims

By the CNN Wire Staff
August 22, 2010 9:13 a.m. EDT Multan, Pakistan (CNN) — After weeks of massive flooding that killed at least 1,539 people, water is finally receding in parts of the country. But for the millions of survivors, another nightmare looms. Much of Pakistan’s economy and infrastructure has been washed away by the record floods. More than half of the population made a living off the land. But about 500,000 tons of stored wheat has reportedly been ruined, and as much as 2 million bales of cotton have also been destroyed. Outdoor markets where vendors sold colorful harvests are now seas of mud and filthy floodwater. “The amount of investment that will need to go in just to bring Pakistan back up to status quo — a status quo that was not sufficient — is going to cost billions and billions of dollars,” said Wendy Chamberlin, president of the Middle East Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. … “What the floods have done is virtually wipe out an infrastructure — an agricultural infrastructure — that it depended upon for its wheat exports,” Chamberlin said. …

Economic outlook dire for Pakistan flood victims