Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif to audit flood relief fund to ensure 'transparency'

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday announced to get PM Flood Relief Fund audited by the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) and a private audit firm to ensure transparency.

He also announced that audit reports will be made public, reported Geo News. Taking to Twitter, the prime minister said that the decision was made as he made a commitment to ensure transparency.

"As per my commitment to ensuring transparency, the Government has decided to get PM Flood Relief Fund audited by AGPR & a private audit firm of global standing. They will audit all incoming & outgoing funds including where & how the money is spent. The audit reports will be made public," tweeted Shehbaz.

Shehbaz established a relief fund last month to help the people affected by the floods and appealed to the public to contribute, reported Geo News.

He also expressed gratitude to Chinese President Xi Jinping for increasing his country's assistance package from the initial RMB 100 million to RMB 400 million for the people affected by floods.

"Highly grateful to HE President Xi Jinping for the Chinese assistance package of RMB 400 million, up from an initial RMB 100 million, for flood victims in Pakistan. This is a reflection of our unique bond of friendship. This support will help provide much-needed relief to the people," tweeted Pakistan's PM.

Earlier today, Pakistan vowed to bring back "normalcy" and provide relief to the affected people after deadly floods killed more than 1,200 and destroyed millions of homes, reported Geo News.

In a press conference at the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal called on the international community to support Pakistan and assured the nation that the government -- supported by its functionaries -- would leave "no stone unturned" to bring normalcy back at the earliest possible time.

The planning minister also called on the international community to ensure that their resolve for support to Pakistan remains undeterred as the scale of the disaster warrants a major humanitarian response, reported Geo News.

The toll from cataclysmic floods in Pakistan continued to climb on Saturday with 29 more deaths, 25 of them children, as the country grapples with a relief and rescue operation of near-unprecedented scale, reported ARY News.

A high-level body set up to coordinate the relief effort met in Islamabad on Saturday for the first time, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to take stock of the disaster.

Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,290 people, including 441 children. The inundation, blamed on climate change, is still spreading.

Initial estimates of the damage have been put at USD 10 billion, but surveys are still being conducted along with international organisations.