The brokerage houses that keep their eyes on corporate earnings have made reports on the scale of potential damage that might be caused to the economy and by rains and floods.
Zeeshan Afzal at Topline Securities envisaged “an eventual loss to stand at 0.6 to 0.8 per cent of GDP: “So far the cost of floods is estimated at $0.5 billion by Sept 7,” said the analyst and added that the eventual cost could reach $1.5 to $2bn.
“Despite having been confined to the province of Punjab, the floods have already resulted in widespread damage and loss of lives,” says BMA Capital Management.
The brokerage affirmed that drawing lessons from flash floods in 2010, continued flooding in the Northern region and its potential trickle down into areas of Sindh warranted attention where on the economic side, the brokerage believed “likely repercussions for GDP growth as well as CPI, going forward”.
BMA thought that the ongoing floods would likely to have ‘severe repercussions for the macroeconomic stability and growth prospects of the country’. It worried that the devastating floods in Punjab and likely to hit Sindh, would drag overall GDP growth target.