Pakistan’s planning minister says early estimates show the devastating floods that hit the country have caused at least USD 10bn of damage.

His comment comes as another government minister said that one-third of the South Asian nation has been submerged. Separately on Monday, Pakistan received a USD 1.1bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

That money is aimed to help the cash-strapped economy avoid defaulting on its debts.

The flash floods, caused by record monsoon rains, have killed at least 1,136 people and affected more than 33 million, over 15% of the country’s population. The torrential rains have also washed away roads, crops, homes, bridges and other infrastructure.

“I think it is going to be huge. So far, [a] very early, preliminary estimate is that it is big, it is higher than USD 10 billion”, - Pakistan’s planning minister Ahsan Iqbal told the Reuters news agency.