THE recent floods have resulted in misery, displacement, death, loss of property and livestock, crop destruction and damage to infrastructure.

While the total losses are yet to be calculated, it is critical to understand their economic repercussions and the urgent need to initiate damage limitation measures.

The 2022 floods, which affected only Sindh and Balochistan, had displaced 33 million people, submerged their homes, destroyed livestock and crops and damaged infrastructure including the irrigation network. That deluge killed over 1,100 people and caused economic losses to the tune of $30 billion, or 10 per cent of GDP. Clearly, global warming has taken firm root in the form of droughts, glacier melt, floods, torrential rains, heatwaves and rising sea levels. Our response capacity must match the challenge.

No other economic sector has such strong backward and forward linkages for national well-being as agriculture. The situation, therefore, requires a holistic rather than a narrow sectoral approach. In the immediate term, the IMF’s ongoing review warrants a revision of performance indicators and structural benchmarks in light of projected changes in the underlying variables. At least, seven important linkages can be........

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