Pakistan will continue to be on the "Grey List" of countries under increased monitoring of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a statement from the global money-laundering and terror-financing watchdog said on Friday. It said the country may be removed from the list after an on-site visit to verify the implementation of its reforms on countering terror-financing mechanisms. "Pakistan is not being removed from the Grey List today. It will be removed if the on-site visit finds that its actions are sustainable," outgoing FATF president Marcus Pleyer said.
"At its June 2022 plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan's AML (anti-money laundering) and CFT (combatting the financing of terrorism) reforms has begun and is being sustained and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future," the statement said.
Pakistan needed the votes of Turkey, China, and Malaysia to get off the list, and all three countries had assured the Pakistani authorities of full support for the purpose, the News International reported. Pakistan had implemented almost all points of the FATF Action Plan, except for the penalties, and Pakistan made prosecutions and all relevant legal amendments, the report added.
The FATF meeting in Berlin continued until June 17 and on the final day of the meeting, the forum will decide whether or not to keep various countries on its black and grey lists. With Pakistan's continuation on the grey list, it is increasingly becoming difficult for Islamabad to get financial aid from the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the country. Pakistan has so far avoided being on the black list with the help of close allies like China, Turkey and Malaysia.
