ISLAMABAD – In a yet another blow to Pakistan, IMF hinted it might link thebailout package to Pakistan’s commitments to the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF).
In June, Pakistan agreed to tighten its compliance with anti-moneylaundering laws and counter-terror funding after being placed on the FATF“gray list” of “jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies”. But on FridayFinance Minister Asad Umar said the government would not bow to any IMFpressure if it did not suit the national interest.
“The government is neither in a hurry to sign a deal with the IMF nor willit come under any pressure to take any decision which burdens the country’seconomy and its people,” the minister said while briefing parliamentarianson the progress of negotiations with the IMF.
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Government’s economic spokesperson Farrukh Saleem said he wasn’t surewhether the IMF had insisted on Pakistan’s compliance with the FATF, “butgenerally speaking the IMF engagement is always linked with the FATFactivities, as both institutions are interlinked”.
