BBC News Online: World: South Asia

World Bank relief for Pakistan's drought

The World Bank says it's mobilising resources worth several hundred-million dollars to help Pakistan through its worsening drought.

The Bank's director in Pakistan, John Wall, said water reserves had been used up during the past three or four years of drought, and some farmers had lost all their cattle.

He said finding work for them was the priority.

Praising the government's rural public works programme, he warned the drought would inevitably hit economic growth. He said the reduced wheat harvest alone could cost Pakistan up to one-billion dollars.

Meanwhile the finance minister, Shaukat Aziz, has told a meeting on poverty reduction that the spectre of poverty had never loomed so large in Pakistan's history. He said the state needed to do more in the social sector but that budget constraints made this very difficult.

He said the government was working to create a vibrant private sector which would produce enormous opportunities for employment and income.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service