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KARACHI: The top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official in Pakistan said on Saturday his organization is assessing flood damage and will use its next review mission to evaluate appropriate policy responses to support affected people and strengthen national resilience.

The flooding during the monsoon season that began in late June has killed 972 people across Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. The northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been the hardest hit, with 504 fatalities, many from severe cloudbursts in mid-August.

Meanwhile, in eastern Punjab, swollen rivers including the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej overflowed after unprecedented rains upstream in India, submerging settlements, destroying crops and leading to more than 100 deaths.

Over 2.5 million people have been rescued, and about 4,700 settlements inundated. The government has signaled relief initiatives for victims but must discuss them with the IMF due to its $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement secured last year.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the people of Pakistan as they endure the devastating floods," said Mahir Binici, Resident Representative of the IMF in Pakistan. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life.”

“An assessment of the flood damage caused by torrential monsoon rains is still ongoing, as the situation continues to evolve,” he continued. “The upcoming EFF review mission provides an opportunity to discuss the appropriate policy response to support flood-affected populations and protect the most vulnerable."

Binici also noted that both the EFF and the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) provide frameworks crucial for external and financial stability amid these natural calamities.

The RSF, approved in May, offers Pakistan around $1.4 billion to help build economic resilience against climate vulnerabilities and disasters, though its disbursement depends on successful reviews under the EFF.

The IMF official noted that the mission will assess whether the budget approved by Pakistan in June, along with its spending allocations and emergency provisions, remain sufficiently agile to address the spending needs necessitated by the floods.

RELIEF FOR FLOOD-HIT FAMILIES

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced immediate relief for households in flood-hit districts, ordering power distribution companies to suspend collection of August electricity bills and adjust any payments already received in the next billing cycle.

Chairing a special meeting in Islamabad earlier in the day, Sharif said the measure was aimed at giving families breathing space as they recover from weeks of torrential rains and flash floods.

“We are making every possible effort in this difficult time to ease people’s suffering,” he said, according to a statement circulated by his office.

The prime minister added a comprehensive electricity-bill relief package for the affected areas would be finalized after consultations with the IMF, underscoring the need to align emergency spending with Pakistan’s ongoing bailout program.

Sharif also said that federal and provincial agencies are working on rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

“We will not rest until every flood victim returns home,” he added.

KARACHI: A senior Pakistani journalist on Saturday dismissed as “baseless” charges filed against him in connection with a story on corruption in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), after being put on trial in an Islamabad court that has alarmed the media community.

Shahbaz Rana, who works with the English-language broadsheet The Express Tribune, faces a complaint filed by an FBR official who claimed his story was defamatory and scandalous. The article in question said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had sacked 25 FBR officers, all in higher pay grades, based on reports by three intelligence agencies questioning their financial integrity and professional competence.

The complainant also nominated Sharif and other officials.

Speaking to Arab News, Rana said he was reporting on the issue on the basis of authentic official documents.

“This case against me is baseless,” he said over the phone. “First, my report regarding the 25 officers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was based not only on authentic documents and was true, but was also publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself, who referred to it twice in his speeches.”

“Furthermore, I did not name any of the 25 officials, including the complainant, in my report,” he added. “Moreover, although the complainant has made the prime minister a party to this case, the charge has been filed solely against me. This baseless case should not stand.”

Journalist bodies including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists, and the National Press Club have sharply criticized the legal proceedings.

In an emergency meeting held on Friday, they said they had reviewed the official records underlying the news report.

Participants said not only did these documentations exist, but there were also videos of the prime minister that confirmed the report’s accuracy.

The meeting expressed astonishment that in a petition which names the prime minister of Pakistan, the finance Secretary, the interior secretary, the establishment secretary, and the Islamabad inspector general of police as parties, no notice has been issued to any of these co-respondents, while an indictment has been filed solely against Rana.

They noted that Rana’s office was raided for his arrest and that a one-sided trial was now proceeding at great speed.

PFUJ President Afzal Butt termed the trial court’s actions a violation of fair-trial principles and called on the Islamabad High Court to take immediate notice so that justice could be ensured.

The participants of the meeting also noted that denying a well-known investigative journalist in Islamabad the right to a fair trial in this way casts doubt on the entire justice system, adding it has also caused deep concern throughout the journalistic community.