"The rough total we have as of now is 5.4 billion dollars," Aziz said, wrapping up the conference of about 70 countries, international financial agencies and aid groups.

Pakistan had said it needed 5.2 billion dollars for reconstruction and ongoing relief after the October 8 quake that killed more than 73,000 people and made about three million homeless just before the onset of winter.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank pledged one billion dollars each, mostly in the form of loans. The Islamic Development Bank said it would increase its assistance from 250.6 million dollars to 501.6 million dollars.

The single biggest donor country was the United States, which pledged 510 million dollars, including 156 million dollars already given. Pakistan is a key ally in the US "war on terror".

Saudi Arabia pledged a total of 391 million dollars, while Germany said it would contribute 111.6 million dollars.

The European Union said its contribution would be 110 million dollars, mostly in grants, with about half already handed over.

Aziz said of the pledges: "A lot of them are in cash, a lot of them are in soft loans and lot of them are in kind. "We really thank the countries, we thank all of those present."

The pledges "will give us more strength to rebuild ... so that the area can be restored quickly," he said.

The United Nations and aid agencies have warned that thousands more people could die if funding problems disrupt relief operations during the winter in the mountain region, which has already seen the first winter snow falls.

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