*ISLAMABAD:* The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Tuesday said the decisionby the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to put Pakistan on the grey listis a move taken on the behest of US aimed at pressurizing Pakistan and toforce Pakistan into submission.

PEW President Dr Murtaza Mughal in a statement said that the decision haslittle to do with terror financing while everything to do with Pakistan’sAfghan policy, which is being seen as unfavourable in Washington.

He said that the US wants to force Pakistan into submission by shatteringits economy through such tactics. Dr Murtaza Mughal added that we shouldcounter US conspiracies, since changing important regional policies toplease Washington will be a political and economic suicide.

He said that the aims of FATF are political otherwise Afghanistan, India,Sudan and Nigeria would be been included in the list while countries knownfor hiding dirty money including the UK would not have been spared.

The US is notorious for hiding dirty money, therefore, many Pakistani andother politicians and bureaucrats hide property worth billions there, thePEW President stated.

The FATF is a tool to hit Pakistan’s economy, CPEC, banking sector, exportsand investors’ confidence as it will increase the cost of doing business,he observed.

Dr Murtaza Mughal said that the move can hurt the stock market and have animpact on the creditworthiness of the country making borrowing difficult.

Pakistan was included in the grey list in 2012 and it took Pakistan threeyears to come out of it, however, this time the US was so eager that allthe Pakistan-friendly nations decided to vote against Pakistan.