ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs at least US$16.3 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a resilient way to support the country’s adaptation to climate change and overall resilience of the country to future climate shocks, said a new report of Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) launched here on Friday.

The assessment estimates total damages to exceed $14.9 billion, and total economic losses to reach about USD 15.2 billion.

The report shows that housing; agriculture and livestock and transport and communications sectors suffered the most significant damage, at $5.6 billion, $3.7 billion, and $3.3 billion, respectively.

Sindh is the worst affected province with close to 70 percent of total damages and losses, followed by Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives led the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), which was conducted jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU), the United Nations agencies with technical facilitation by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.

The PDNA, in addition to estimating damages, economic losses and recovery and reconstruction needs, also assesses broader macro-economic and human impacts and recommends principles along which it has to develop a comprehensive recovery and reconstruction framework.

The report was launched by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Ayaz Sadiq and Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman.

Addressing the ceremony, Ahsan Iqbal asked International Monetary Fund (IMF) to soften the conditions on Pakistan government to utilize its own resources.