Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that putting Pakistan on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would entail harmful consequences for the economy and the government should make strong efforts to steer the country out of the grey list and to save the economy from further troubles.

He said that Pakistan now has 15 months to implement an action plan to be able to negotiate an exit from the grey list and all possible efforts should be made for the implementation of the action plan, adding that inclusion of Pakistan in the grey list could have wide ranging impact on its economy including imports, exports, remittances and access to the international financial institutions. He said that it would also discourage foreign investors from making investing in Pakistan and urged that the government should address all those structural deficiencies that caused its entry into the grey list.

ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed Malik and ICCI Vice President Nisar Mirza said that FATF has formulated a comprehensive set of recommendations, that have become almost international standards on anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism. They said that the government should launch strong lobbying with FATF member countries and try to comply with set recommendations to pave way for early exit of Pakistan from the grey list.

They said that apart from Pakistan, Ethiopia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen were also included in the grey list. However, Pakistan was the most significant country on the list with the largest population and the largest economy, therefore, it was the dire need of the hour that all stakeholders should make utmost efforts for its exit from the said list in order to save the country from further problems.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.