India, Aug. 28 -- The losses from the flash floods in Nepal could run into at least "a few billion dollars", the country's finance minister Swarnim Wagle said, while seeking a "different fundraising campaign" for reconstruction.

"Cumulatively, I think the losses and damages when they will be finally quantified in a week or so, will amount to at least a few billion dollars," Wagle said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

This comes even as the Nepal Police said at least 547 people were killed in the flash floods which surged through the border region between Nepal and Tibet, sweeping away entire villages, AFP reported. The disaster has prompted the $45 billion economy to seek international funding for the massive reconstruction ef...