With estimates of the costs to the economy at best arbitrary, the only thing certain about the floods ravaging Pakistan is that the devastation is massive.
Pakistans High Commissioner to the UK suggests that reconstruction costs could be around $10~15 billion. But at this point, thats really just a shot in the dark.
Despite the UNs call for $462 million for relief efforts, only 35 percent of that amount has been mobilized. International media outlets are perplexed about the apparent laziness of donors, especially when compared to their zeal witnessed in the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, the tsunami and the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year.
The first reason that comes to mind is the rust deficit. In view of widely reported mishandling of the generous donations from the international community, donors are hesitant this time around, and perhaps want to identify organizations that are worthy of their trust.
According to some sections of the media, confidence in government-led efforts is so low that the Prime Ministers Relief Fund has managed to attract only Rs4 million, of which, interestingly, Rs2.5 million was put in by the PM himself as seed money for the fund.
In addition to this trust gap, a new kind of deficit has also made its mark; according to the United Nations, aid agencies are having trouble raising funds because of Pakistans apparent image deficit.
For the past two years, news emerging out of Pakistan has decidedly been negative, focussing mostly on militarism and violent extremism. Donors perhaps are accustomed to think that most, if not all Pakistanis are terrorists. Readers comments on international media articles certainly reflect the close-minded impression.
Add to that the ever-so-present economic deficits and the case for Pakistans recovery is even trickier. Already the government has announced that the GDP target for the year will likely be missed.
Much of the financing for rehabilitation efforts is expected to flow from public funds, and so the fiscal deficit, already targeted at Rs684.9 billion for the current fiscal year, is set to swell by Rs130~200 billion, based on projections of revenue shortfall reported by the FBR.
But perhaps whats causing most of the problems to Pakistan is the cumulative effect of character deficit. The economy and the society that shapes it have descended into a collective apathy, where obsession with self interest is evident from top to bottom.
This disaster, like the many seen before, shall pass. But if the country is to remain a force to contend with, every citizen must do his/her part to rewrite Pakistans history of deficits.