The preliminary assessment of the Pakistani government puts the damage of the ongoing floods in the country at an estimated 350 billion rupees to 500 billion rupees (4.09 billion U.S. dollars to 5.9 billion U.S. dollars), reported local media The News on Friday.

Flood victims wait for food handout from motorists at a roadside in Pakistan's Muzaffargarh district in Punjab province August 11, 2010. The floods have ploughed a swathe of destruction more than 1,000 km (600 miles) long from northern Pakistan to the south, killing more than 1,600 people. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

The report quoted a spokesman for the Finance Ministry as saying that the preliminary assessments show a total damage between 2 percent to 3 percent of the country's GDP.

In order to ascertain the exact figures of damage and the funds required for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, the Finance Ministry spokesman said a proper survey is being launched with the participation of World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The survey, which would be completed in two weeks, would give the real figures of damage, casualties, crops devastated and infrastructure destroyed, said the spokesman.