PremiumIn February earlier this year, FATF had retained Pakistan on the grey list till June after finding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27 point action plan against money laundering and terror financing
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has retained Pakistan on its 'grey list', meaning no respite for the nation as it looks for financial aid amid the pandemic.
In the virtual session in Paris, which started on June 21 and concluded on Friday, the global terror financing watchdog reviewed the Asia Pacific Group's report on Pakistan's compliance with its prescribed action items. FATF has recommended a list of measures for Pakistan to stop money laundering and terror financing in the nation.
Pakistan media reported that the FATF has retained the nation on the grey list. The watchdog had held a session on June 23 during its latest meeting to decide whether Pakistan will remain on the grey list or not.
Earlier this month, a regional affiliate of the FATF had retained Pakistan on the "Enhanced Follow-up" list and asked the country to strengthen its efforts towards the action items prescribed by FATF. The FATF Asia Pacific Group had released a second Follow up Report (FUR) on the Mutual Evaluation of Pakistan on the compliance of 40 technical recommendations.
The report said Pakistan was re-rated to "compliant" status on five counts and on 15 others to 'largely compliant' and on yet another count to 'partially compliant, Dawn reported.
Pakistan was put on the FATF grey list three years ago and has been trying since to get out of this list. FATF's latest decision means the nation will continue to face difficulties in its endeavour to access finances in the form of investments and aid from international bodies including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In February earlier this year, FATF had retained Pakistan on the grey list till June. The watchdog had taken the decision after finding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27 point action plan mandated to Pakistan. FATF had asked Pakistan in October last year to deliver on all 27 points February 2021.
Early this year, Islamabad-based think tank Tabadlab revealed that Pakistan sustained a total of $38 billion in economic losses due to FATF's decision to thrice place the country on its grey list since 2008. The research paper titled "Bearing the cost of global politics -- the impact of FATF grey-listing on Pakistan's economy" stated that that grey-listing events spanning from 2008 to 2019, may have resulted in total GDP losses worth $38 billion.
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