According to the United Nations, 600,000 houses in Nepal have been destroyed or damaged. Finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion (more than Rs 12,000 crore) to hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed for help from international donors. The United Nations has said 8 million people had been affected, with at least 2 million in need of tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.