Pakistan made progress on 27 points of FATF action plan: Finance Ministry

ISLAMABAD: Finance Ministry on Friday said that Pakistan had made progress on all 27 points of action plan recommended by the Financial Action Task Force to exit from the grey list, ARY NEWS reported.

“None of the action plans recommended by the FATF have been left behind from implementation,” the finance ministry said in a handout issued today. The ministry further said that partial implementation has been made on six action plans.

“Hammad Azhar virtually attended the plenary meeting of the anti-money laundering watchdog,” the ministry said adding that Pakistan is committed to implementing the FATF action plan and would ensure that all its recommendations are implemented.

It further said that the member states have lauded the progress made by the country on the action plan as Pakistan took comprehensive action against hawala and hundi setup, currency smuggling, and financing of the terrorists.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier in the day, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has kept the country on the grey list appreciating the reforms it carried out.

The FATF committee acknowledged Pakistani efforts in curbing all the erstwhile concerns flagged by the global terror-financing watchdog and has extended Pakistan a period until February 2021 to satisfy all of 27 concerns.

Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar took to Twitter in the wake of FATF conclusion and asserted Pakistan has achieved “impressive progress on its FATF action plan”, and said that the watchdog acknowledges. “any blacklisting is off the table now”.

He congratulated government teams, both federal and provincial whose efforts and contribution came to fruition as they worked “day and night even during the pandemic to ensure this turn around”.