PM Shehbaz felicitates nation on FATF announcement 

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has felicitated the nation and welcomed the announcement of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Pakistan has met all its conditions for exclusion from the grey list.

In a statement, he said return of Pakistan to the white list is a big success of the country.

The Prime Minister said the efforts of the basic cell related to FATF and of military and civil leadership included in it, are praise worthy and credit goes to them for their work in this national endeavour.

Shehbaz Sharif said the statement of FATF is recognition of the restoration of the international reputation of Pakistan.

He said such good news will be destiny of Pakistan in future. He said the return of Pakistan to the white list will help improve economic and financial situation of Pakistan.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said the completion of the Financial Action Task Force's anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation action plans by Pakistan is a great achievement. 

According to Inter-Services Public Refractions (ISPR), the Army Chief said the achievement is a monumental effort for paving way for white listing.

Yesterday, the FATF acknowledging the completion of Pakistan’s both Action Plans (2018 and 2021) has authorized an onsite visit to the country, as a final step to exit from the FATF’s grey list.

The task force reviewed Pakistan’s progress on FATF Action Plans in its plenary meetings held in Berlin on 13-17 June 2022, a press release issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans but on-site visits are required to verify Islamabad’s implementation," a statement issued by the watchdog said.

However, Pakistan has not been officially removed from the FATF's grey list. 

The watchdog said that FATF will “monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date”.

The watchdog noted that since June 2018, when Pakistan high-level political commitment to work with FATF, continued its political commitment to combating both terrorist financing and money laundering has led to significant progress

“In particular, Pakistan demonstrated that terror financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups and that there is a positive upwards trend in the number of money laundering investigations and prosecutions being pursued in Pakistan, in line with Pakistan’s risk profile. In addition, Pakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times,” said FATF. 

Soon after the announcement, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar — who was leading Pakistan's delegation at the plenary session in Berlin —  congratulated Pakistan after the watchdog declared both action plans complete.