Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said that out of 27 technical items of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan, Pakistan has already achieved 26 points whereas substantial progress has been made on the remaining one target.
In a press statement, the foreign minister expressed his wonder over the FATF’s decision of still keeping Pakistan in its grey list. “In my view, under such a situation, there was no need to keep Pakistan in the grey list,” he added.
Qureshi said it will be adjudged whether the FATF is a technical forum or a political one and whether it is being used for any political purposes. “The FATF itself admitted that Pakistan has achieved 26 points in the plan of action,” he said, adding that Pakistan is committed to fully implement the remaining one. “Some powers want FATF’s sword hanging on our heads,” he said.
He further categorically maintained that they had taken all the steps in their interests which include elimination of money laundering and financing of terrorism. He reiterated that Pakistan is committed to take steps which are in its interest.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar Saturday termed the opposition parties’ narrative on FATF shameful and condemnable. Addressing a press conference, the minister said the world community and FATF acknowledged and recognized the considerable progress and efforts made by Pakistan on action plan with high-level commitment. He said the opposition is making political point scoring for its gains, adding that the national economy is heading into right direction due to prudent economic policies of the incumbent government.
He said FATF has also given a new seven-point action plan. The new action plan is mainly focused to counter money laundering, which is relatively easy than the terror financing. “We have set a target to meet this in 12 months,” he said.
Hammad Azhar said Pakistan was included in FATF grey list during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) regime. “However, now we were facing this challenge and we would try to address or resolve it,” he added.
Addressing a press conference after the plenary meeting concluded in Paris earlier this week, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said that Pakistan remains under “increased monitoring”. “The Pakistani government has made substantial progress in making its counter-terrorist financing systems stronger and more effective. It has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018,” he had said.
Dr Pleyer had said that the plan focused on terrorist financing issues. He had noted said that the one key action item still needs to be completed “which concerns the investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups”.
The FATF president had highlighted that Pakistan has “made improvements” after the Asia Pacific Group highlighted issues in 2019 during its assessment of Pakistan’s entire anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system.
“These include clear efforts to raise awareness in the private sector to Pakistan’s money laundering risks and to develop and use financial intelligence to build case.
“However Pakistan is still failing to effectively implement the global FATF standards across a number of areas. This means the risks of money laundering remain high which in turn can fuel corruption and organised crime,” he had stated.
