Pakistan did not exit the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at the end of the anti-terror financing watchdog’s four-day meeting on Thursday as a number of countries were of the opinion that Islamabad has not fullyimplemented the action plan set by the body.
The announcement was made by FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyerat a press briefing on the outcomes of the FATF plenary. After its meeting, Marcus Pleyer, president of the Paris-based FATF, said the deadline given to Pakistan has already expired and asked Islamabad to address their concerns “as quickly as possible”. “To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired,” Mr Pleyer said in Paris at the end of its plenary session. There is serious deficiency on the part of Pakistan in checking terror financing and the country is yet to demonstrate taking action against the UN designated terrorists and their associates, he said. Pakistan must complete three unfulfilled tasks and once it is completed, the FATF will verify and take a decision on its present status in the next plenary to be held in June.
FATF had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
