Homework is complete to get rid of the FATF grey list, says Hammad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar has said that the government has completed homework to help Pakistan quit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.
Talking to the media persons on Sunday, Hammad Azhar said that Pakistan was put on the grey list because of the previous governments but due to efforts of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime, the country would be removed soon from it.
He claimed that the opposition’s attitude has always been negative and against the country’s integrity, adding, “However, we stand steadfast on our policy to eliminate corruption and get back the looted money.”
Speaking of inflation, the federal minister said that food is “becoming more expensive around the world” but the PTI regime is “driving the economy forward”.
On relations with India, he said: “We cannot turn a blind eye towards India. We wish to move forward but there should be a positive attitude from the other side as well.”
Hammad expressed hope that Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon recover from the coronavirus and “be among us”. The people, he added, need to be very cautious with regards to COVID-19 and related standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Earlier last month, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gave a fourth extension to Pakistan to fully implement a 27-point action plan and “strongly urged” it to meet the remaining three conditions about terror financing investigations and the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Against the government’s hopes of exiting the grey list this time, the FATF plenary found the country’s progress on three out of the remaining six points less than satisfactory. Pakistan would remain on the grey list till June 2021, a statement issued by the FATF from Paris saiad.
“The FATF takes note of the significant progress made on the entire action plan. To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items,” according to the FATF. It added that as all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan before June 2021.
It was the fourth extension that Pakistan has managed to secure due to significant progress that it made during the last almost one and half years. Pakistan had been put on the grey list with effect from June 2018 and got 15-month time to implement a 27-point action plan. – TLTP