Nepal Flood Rebuilding Could Cost Up to $5 Billion, Says Finance Minister

Nepal's government has issued an initial estimate for rebuilding after this week's catastrophic floods, with Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle putting the figure at between $4 billion and $5 billion. That sum represents nearly a tenth of the country's entire economic output.

Speaking on Saturday, Wagle described the figure as a preliminary assessment, noting that a full evaluation of losses and damage is still underway. He indicated the final bill would likely be far lower than the $9 billion spent on reconstruction following the 2015 earthquake, Nepal's worst recorded disaster.

The floods were triggered by a glacier collapse on Wednesday that sent a massive surge of rock, ice, mud, and debris through Himalayan river systems. The deluge has killed more than 600 people across Nepal and China's Tibet region, with over 2,000 individuals still unaccounted for.

Towns along the border area were levelled, with bridges and roads swept away and major hydropower stations damaged. The destruction of power projects is particularly significant, as they account for more than 12% of the nation's generating capacity.

The economic impact is expected to be severe for a country that relies heavily on remittances, tourism, and hydropower. The 2015 earthquake, by comparison, killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed over half a million homes, and caused losses estimated at around one-third of Nepal's economy.