ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has given 15 days deadline to thefinance ministry led by Finance Minister Asad Umer.

He has ordered the finance ministry task force established to pursuelaundered Pakistani cash parked overseas to submit its recommendationswithin two weeks, Minister for Finance Asad Umar said on Monday.

He said the government would first move against the Pakistani owners of $8billion worth of properties in Dubai, the details of which have beenpreviously made public by the UAE authorities.

Umar said the government was yet to ascertain the amount of illicit moneydeposited in secretive Swiss bank accounts. “We do not know exactly howmuch money has been stashed in Swiss bank accounts, but the former financeminister Ishaq Dar had given a figure of $200 billion on the floor of theHouse,” Umar said.

He noted that the erstwhile Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had notacted to repatriate the dirty money. “Now the PM has ordered to take stepsto bring back money laundered from Pakistan,” Umar told reporters, afterparticipating in the maiden meeting of the newly inducted federal cabinethere on Monday.

However, independent experts believe the new government would have toestablish a dedicated, empowered government office to get the job done.Only once it had established the facts and figures would it be able toformulate a strategy capable of repatriating un-taxed cash and assets.

The Swiss authorities have previously estimated that Pakistani hold cashdeposits $90 billion in the country’s banks. Past efforts by Pakistangovernment agencies to investigate white collar crime failed to yieldresults.