Pakistan evades FATF blacklist, to be kept in grey list till June

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan avoided the slipping into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) black list; however, it will be kept in the grey list. Sources in the Finance Ministry said that the FATF has decided to give time until June 2020 and September 2020 to achieve the 13 targets of performance and complete them respectively. A statement of the dialogues will be issued on Friday. In June 2020, Pakistan’s performance will be re-evaluated in June 2020. According to reports, Indian attempts were foiled after no country supported India's attempt to blacklist Pakistan. The FATF members, according to sources, praised Pakistan for taking effective steps, countering money laundering, and terror financing. The FATF expressed satisfaction with Pakistan's performance report. Pakistan has fully implemented 14 out of 27 points of FATF recommendations. Meanwhile, the FATF members have called for more steps to be taken to get Pakistan out off the grey list. Pakistan has made effective legislation to exit the gray list. The FATF has said that Pakistan must ensure implementation of money laundering laws. The Pakistani delegation is being led by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar who is also accompanied by officials of the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). More than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, the IMF, UN, World Bank and other organizations are participating in these meetings.