Pakistan sees gradual recovery from floods

WASHINGTON: Pakistan's new finance minister estimated that it could take "close to three years'' for the south Asian country to recover from devastating floods that killed more than 1,700 people and displaced another 7.9 million.

Ishaq Dar, who last month took the finance post for the fourth time in his career, told The Associated Press Friday that losses from the floods were estimated to surpass $32 billion and that the cost of rebuilding damaged infrastructure will exceed $16 billion.