Kathmandu, Aug 29 (Reuters): 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.

A man stands in front of damaged buildings after flash floods and a mudslide, in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 29, 2026.

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

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.

Photo from Reuters