Pakistan deficit to rise to 6-7 pct due to floods

ISLAMABAD, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's budget deficit is expected to climb to 6-7 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year 2010/2011 as a result of floods, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

"The budget deficit before the flood crisis was estimated to reach 4.5 percent of GDP. Now it is estimated to be as much as 6-7 percent of the GDP," Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the cabinet. (Writing by Michael Georgy) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)