By Mashal Khan 

ISLAMABAD: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) appreciated Pakistan's efforts to complete actions all items a year ahead of the prescribed timelines, says Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Speaking to a news conference in Islamabad after returning from the FATF five-day Plenary Meeting that concluded yesterday in Berlin, Germany, she said during the meeting, the recommendations of FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) on Pakistan’s 2018 and 2021 Action Plans were discussed.

“On 2018 Action Plan, this was the consideration of our eleventh report to FATF. FATF has now acknowledged by consensus that all action items have been largely addressed by Pakistan. The 2018 Action Plan has been closed with no pendency of action on the part of Pakistan,” she said.

According to Khar, on 2021 Action Plan was mostly related to money laundering issues and Pakistan had submitted three progress reports on it.

 “I am very pleased to announce that Pakistan has completed the entire seven-point Action Plan a year ahead of the prescribed timelines. This swift pace and progress is indicative of the comprehensive reforms and actions that have been carried out by Pakistan in the AML/CFT domain and sustained momentum of our efforts. 

“Pakistan’s positive and speedy progress was greatly appreciated and welcomed by FATF members,” she added.

On Friday evening, FATF President Dr. Marcus Pleyer said Pakistan’s continued political commitment to combating both terrorist financing and money laundering has led to significant progress.

He acknowledged that Pakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times.

“At its June 2022 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future,” he added.

After the FATF President announcement now Pakistan will get out from the grey list after completion of actions on all items. 

Khar praised the tirless efforts of all officials who worked day and nights and made its possible to get out their country from grey list.

“I also want to acknowledge the tireless efforts of our teams who worked day and night to achieve our objectives and completed FATF Action Plans. This was indeed a whole of country response. Multiple ministries, departments and agencies, at all levels of the Government have contributed to this national cause. It also demonstrates that when we work together with a sense of purpose we can achieve remarkable things,” she said.

Pakistan has been on the global money-laundering watchdog's radar since June 2018, when it was placed on its gray list for terrorist financing and money laundering risks after an assessment of the country's financial system and security mechanism.

The US and India had reportedly tried several times to place the South Asian nuclear nation on the blacklist but Islamabad escaped four times with the support of Turkey, China, and Malaysia.