Daily Times

The country hopes that the global watchdog will delete the country’s name from the “Grey” list in the upcoming meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Pakistan has successfully implemented 26 of the 27 points being tasked, after which the chances of getting out of the gray list has become clear & brighten.

The global watchdog will review Pakistan’s progress on the 27-point action plan in its plenary session that started in the last week of June 2021.The upcoming meeting is expected to announce their final decision on whether to keep Pakistan on its grey list or move it out with more tasks

The Foreign Office in Pakistan reacting to the upcoming FATF plenary meeting said that “Pakistan has made significant strides during the implementation of the Action Plan through concerted national efforts.”

The office expresses hope that “the tremendous progress made by Pakistan leading toward the conclusion of the Action Plan has been acknowledged by FATF as well as the larger international community.”

The spokesperson said that “without prejudging the outcome of the upcoming plenary meeting, we would like to reaffirm our commitment to further strengthen our AML/CFT regime to align it with international standards and fulfill our international obligations in this regard.”

The Foreign office commenting on the one point which is yet to be implemented said that “In the context of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan should be given another two to three months to implement the remaining one point and until the country will be placed on the gray list”.

The authority in the foreign of Pakistan concluded that “Due to Pakistan’s excellent strategy, India’s influence in the FATF has also diminished, with India receiving more support from France or the United States, but US interest in the region has not remained the same since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan”.

Pakistan was included in the FATF gray list in 2018 and was asked to swiftly complete its full action plan to remove the country’s name from the global grey list. Until the last meeting in February 2021, the global watchdog reported that Pakistan had implemented 24 of the 27 action items.

The country has been tasked to continue to work on implementing the three remaining items in its action plan to address its strategically important deficiencies. On contacting Younas Khan, who is Pakistani-France based Journalist said that Pakistan has largely implemented the FATF 27-point action plan, but Pakistan has not been able to do what it should have achieved before the meeting.

He elaborates that Pakistan has failed ineffective diplomacy with regard to the Financial Action Task Force because the government’s move at the request of the TLP to start a debate in parliament on the deportation of the French ambassador has widened Pakistan’s diplomatic distance with Western capitals.”

He further said that the Pakistan-France relations are at an all-time low and people think that the reason for the breakdown in France-Pakistan relations are the cartoons published in France but in fact, there are many other reasons for the breakdown in France-Pakistan relations. He explains that the biggest reason being India-France’s close relations and France’s India at every forum that is why Pakistan’s ambassador to France has not been appointed for more than a year.

He further explains that the repeated gray listing of Pakistan by the FATF has cost the economy billions of dollars, reducing investment, exports, trade, and government spending. Pakistan is an important part of the world’s financial system but according to the report, due to FATF sanctions, Pakistan’s economy has suffered a potential loss of more than 40 billion in 12 years, He added.

The journalist was of the view and predicted that The FATF meeting will appreciate the steps taken by Pakistan in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing but a ban will be remaining imposed, he concluded.

Earlier media claimed that the FATF delegation will visit Pakistan soon to review the government’s actions and report back, and then decide on Pakistan at the next meeting in October, four months later. So far, Pakistan has not only enacted but also enforced laws on money laundering and terrorist financing. However, significant steps were taken to freeze the assets of banned organizations and to curb the activities of those associated with them.