Nepal faces $4-5 billion flood reconstruction bill after glacier collapse kills over 600

Nepal requires an estimated four to five billion dollars for flood reconstruction. This bill is nearly a tenth of the nation's entire economy. A glacier collapse unleashed torrents, killing over six hundred people and leaving thousands missing. The floods destroyed towns, bridges, roads, and damaged hydropower stations. This disaster significantly impacts Nepal's economy reliant on remittances and tourism.

Nepal may need $4 billion to $5 ​billion to rebuild after ​this week's devastating floods, Finance Minister ​Swarnim Wagle told Reuters on Saturday, a bill equal to nearly a tenth of the economy.

"The initial estimate ‌is between $4-$5 ⁠billion. Just ⁠an estimate," Wagle said. "We will require much less ​than what we needed for the 2015 earthquake. Loss and ​damage is being assessed."

A glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud ​and debris through Himalayan mountain ⁠river systems, ‌killing more than 600 people ​in Nepal ​and China's Tibet, with more than ⁠2,000 still unaccounted for.

Also Read: Nepal flood rebuilding may cost $5 billion, says billionaire Binod Chaudhary

The flood levelled towns ​in the border area, sweeping away ​bridges and roads and damaging major hydropower stations.

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Wagle did not elaborate on why the reconstruction bill was expected to be less than the $9 billion spent after the 2015 magnitude-7.8 quake, ‌Nepal's worst recorded disaster. It killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed more than half ​a million ​homes and ⁠caused losses estimated at around a third of Nepal's economy.

Wednesday's floods will nevertheless be a major blow ​to an economy reliant on remittances, tourism and hydropower, damaging power projects that account for more than 12% of national generating capacity.

Also Read: What we know and don't know about the Nepal tragedy