Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has expressed his gratitude to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its unanimous approval of Pakistan’s 2018 and 2021 Action Plans. In a press release statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, he made his comments.
The statement praised Pakistan’s staff for their efforts and hard work, which allowed Pakistan to meet all technical requirements of both FATF Action Plans.
FATF’s decision to permit Pakistan an on-site visit is a positive move, according to the press statement. Pakistan has achieved great progress in improving the efficiency of its AML/CFT framework, as stated in the report.
For the government’s greater goal of increasing Pakistan’s economic growth, the financial sector reforms are an important aspect of that strategy.
“I am convinced that this excellent news from the FATF will restore trust in Pakistan’s economy and act as a driver for continued growth and development,” Bilawal added.
Pakistan’s high-level commitment to keeping the state’s AML/CFT regime in line with global norms was emphasised in the press release.
“We look forward to the on-site inspection and a successful and early consummation of the process leading to Pakistan’s withdrawal from the grey list,” the foreign ministry stated.
Anti-money laundering watchdog, the FATF expressed satisfaction with Pakistan’s efforts on Friday, but did not remove it from its “grey list.”
In June 2018, Pakistan was put on the FATF’s “grey list” because of its failure to combat terror funding on its own land.
Following this, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to engage with the FATF and APG to reform its AML/CFT framework and solve its strategic counter-terrorist funding inadequacies.
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