World Bank steps in with cash as UN warns flood crisis will deepen

The World Bank has said it will redirect $900 million (£576m) of its existing loans to Pakistan to help in flood recovery, as the UN yesterday warned that many of the 20 million people affected by the disaster have yet to receive any emergency aid.

The floods began three weeks ago, but the crisis could yet worsen; authorities have warned that the swollen Indus River may burst its banks again in the coming days.

Pakistan's government has been sorely tested by the disaster, which has affected about a fifth of the area of the country of 170 million people.

President Asif Ali Zardari acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the government had responded poorly to the widespread flooding. Mr Zardari's reputation sank to new lows after he chose to visit Europe as the crisis was unfolding.

"Yes, the situation could be better. Yes, the arrangements could have been made better. Yes, everything could have been better. Alas! If we could have those resources," he told local aid groups in a meeting. "We have to move forward, despite whatever criticism we get."

Local charities and international agencies have rushed food, water, shelter and medical treatment to the worst-hit areas in the north-west and Punjab and Sindh provinces. But aid agencies and the UK government have complained that the international response to the disaster has not been generous enough.

The UN appealed last week for $459m for immediate relief efforts. So far it has received 40 per cent — about $184 million — said UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano. An additional $43m has been pledged.

The World Bank said the funds it was offering would be redirected to flood relief from ongoing and planned projects in Pakistan.

With huge destruction of roads and bridges and crops wiped out in many areas, authorities expect reconstruction to take years and cost billions.

For now, many victims are living in makeshift camps alongside their livestock or in flooded towns and villages.

"The vast geographical extent of the floods and affected populations meant that many people have yet to be reached with the assistance they desperately need," the UN said.

It also said the number of children and breast-feeding mothers affected and rising diarrhoea cases "point toward a clear risk of malnutrition among the affected population".

The floods have killed about 1,500 people and inundated 1.7 million acres (of wheat, sugar cane and rice crops, raising the prospect of food shortages in the coming months in the already poor nation. The price of food has risen sharply since the floods began.