ISLAMABAD: As the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has directed Islamabadto take more measures for the complete elimination of terror financing andmoney laundering, economists in Pakistan believe that the government wouldneed to bold key political and administrative decisions to come out of theFATF grey list.
FATF on Friday formally announced that Pakistan will remain on its greylist till February 2020.
“It seems the incumbent government has not taken the (FATF) matterseriously,” a renowned economist and a former government official said,adding that the government should now take some political andadministrative decisions to avoid difficulties at FATF in February 2022.
“I cannot understand the support extended by the US in the FATF issue. TheUS support, as expected, was apparently not there for Pakistan. Otherwise,Pakistan would have come out of the grey list,” he remarked.
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Meanwhile, renowned economist and Economic Advisory Council member DrAshfaq Hassan said although Pakistan has shown tremendous progress on majorFATF conditions, the anti-Pakistan lobby may try to keep Pakistan in thegrey list as long as the IMF programme continues.
“Majority of remaining tasks are political in nature. The positive aspectis that both civil and military leaderships are on the same page on theFATF issue,” he said. “I hope Pakistan will meet the tasks within the giventimeframe. But my apprehension is that the some influential countries likeIndia will force FATF to keep Pakistan under pressure,” he added, Pakistantoday had reported.
