ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has felicitated the nation and welcomed the announcement of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Pakistan has met all its conditions for exclusion from the grey list.
In a statement, he said that the return of Pakistan to the white list is a big success of the Country.
The prime minister said that 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 national endeavour.
وزیراعظم شہباز شریف کا پاکستان کی جانب سے تمام شرائط پوری کرنے کے فاٹف کے اعلان کا خیر مقدم، قوم کو مبارک
الحمدللہ، ‘وائٹ لسٹ’ کی طرف واپسی پاکستان کی بڑی کامیابی ہے
تمام حکومتی اداروں، شخصیات اور متعلقہ ٹیم کو مبارک دیتا ہوں، آپ سب کی کاوشیں رنگ لائی ہیں
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PMO_PK) June 17, 2022
Shahbaz Sharif said that the statement of FATF is a recognition of the restoration of the international reputation of Pakistan.
The prime minister said that the return of Pakistan to the FATF white list will help improve economic and financial situation of Pakistan.
Earlier, the Financial Action Task Force, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, announced that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans and would be removed from the grey list after it passes the on-site visit.
The FATF reviewed Pakistan’s progress on FATF Action Plans in its plenary meetings held in Berlin from Monday till Friday.
The FATF acknowledged the completion of Pakistan’s both Action Plans (2018 and 2021) and has authorized an onsite visit to Pakistan, as a final step to exit from the FATF’s grey list.
The FATF members while participating in the discussion on Pakistan’s progress, congratulated Pakistan for completing both Action Plans covering 34 items, and especially on the early completion of the 2021 Action Plan in a record timeframe.
Pakistan continued its relentless efforts towards the successful completion of these Action Plans despite many challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakistan has covered a lot of ground in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terror Financing (AML/CFT) domain during the implementation of FATF Action Plans.
The engagement with FATF has led to the development of a strong AML/CFT framework in Pakistan and resulted in improving of our systems to cope with future challenges.
