ugc_banner

Act decisively on terror finance or be ready to get blacklisted by February 2020: FATF to Pakistan  

WION
New Delhi Written By: Sidhant SibalUpdated: Oct 18, 2019, 07:43 PM IST
main img
File photo: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

Islamabad has just four-and-a-half months to show its resolve in combating anti-terror financing.

Pakistan has been given February 2020 deadline to act decisively on terror financing and money laundering or be ready to get blacklisted by the Paris based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

Islamabad has just four-and-a-half months to show its resolve in combating anti-terror financing.

Xiangmin liu, president, FATF at the end of week-long FATF meet in Paris said "We take Pakistan's failure to fulfil FATF's global standards seriously, as a result, the organisation is giving very clear warning, if by February 2020, the country has not made significant progress, we would consider further action, which will potentially include placing the country on blacklist"

''Pakistan has not made sufficient progress and it has to do more and do it faster," he further said.

The country remains on the grey list of the terror financing body as it had addressed only 5 of the 27 action plans it had committed to deal with. All deadlines in the action plans given by Islamabad have now expired, after repeated reminders to act.

Asked if there is any interference from any of the member country, FATF president said," I can tell you, every member of FATF has an equal voice and we treat every country equally.''

Pakistan was put on greylist by the FATF last year and it's causing a loss of $10 billion to Pakistani economy annually. 

A blacklist will further have a detrimental impact on a weak Pakistani economy as investors won't be keen to invest in a country that is prone to terror financing. 

The country needs votes of just three members to make sure it is not listed on the blacklist in February for which Islamabad is expected to lobby.

A five-member Pakistani team led by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar is in Paris for the meet that decided that the country will continue to remain on the grey list.

FATF is a technical body, whose main aim is to protect the international financial system. The 30-year-old body works on the consensus of member countries.