Although Pakistan will stay in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list until June, the watchdog praised the country’s resolve in line with the directives to stop terror financing and money laundering.
FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer announced Pakistan’s reservation in the grey list until June 2021 after reviewing measures carried out by the country during a four-day virtual plenary meeting in Paris.
“Islamabad has made significant progress on 24 of 27 points”, he said during a post-meeting press conference.
However, three of them are still required to be addressed, he added.
FATF president urged Pakistan to complete the action plan, admitting that it has shown resolve against illicit financing.
Responding to repeated questions by Indian journalists about blacklisting Pakistan, Pleyer ruled it out and contended that the country has made remarkable progress on FATF’s recommendations.
“The FATF takes note of the significant progress made on the entire action plan. To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items,” a statement on its website read.
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Responding to FATF’s decision, Minister for Industries & Production Hammad Azhar tweeted that Pakistan has complied with 90% of FATF’s recommendations.
Pakistan has completed almost 90% of its current FATF action-plan with 24 out of 27 items rated as ‘largely addressed’ and remaining 3 items ‘partially addressed’.
FATF has acknowledged Pak’s high level political commitment since 2018 that led to significant progress. 1/3
— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) February 25, 2021
Hammad commended the efforts of multiple departments at federal and provincial tiers that led to notable advancement since 2018.