FATF recognising Pakistan’s efforts, says minister
Hammad Azhar says Islamabad to take part in next meeting fully prepared
ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar has said Pakistan will not get blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and that the country’s ratings will improve.
“Every conspiracy hatched by India to get Pakistan blacklisted has failed. The FATF recognises the efforts of Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing,” the minister said on Friday.
He was talking to the media after attending the closing ceremony of first Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) Capital Market Regulators Forum. The two-day forum was co-organised by the Security and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
FATF trouble unlikely to go away soon
Azhar said Pakistan is working fast on the FATF Action Plan and the recent meeting of the FATF has acknowledged this fact. “Pakistan has achieved success despite hostile propaganda by India.”
To a question, he said the FATF next meeting would be held in Bangkok and Pakistan would participate in meeting with full preparation and get success in this forum.
He said the government is successfully maintaining the Current Account Deficit (CoD) and in future the country would come out completely from CoD deficit. “Now priority of the government is to work on contracting fiscal deficit and removing this issue for economic stability and growth in the country.”
He hoped the government would come out of the issue of twin's deficit and the country would achieve the objective of economic stability and growth. Addressing the seminar, he earlier said Pakistan is setting up its capital market along modern lines using the experiences of the Central Asian countries.
“The Middle East is the hub of economic progress and we need to explore the economic resources of that region also. Pakistan is establishing capital market of international standard,” he said.
Hammad said a strong capital market will bring economic improvement and that poverty can be reduced through economic development. The government, he said, is working on economic reforms and institutions are being strengthened. Governance is being improved under this agenda.
"I strongly believe that vibrant and efficient capital market is important for resource mobilisation and supporting the economic development of this region," he said.
The minister laid stress on organising such events to ensure closer regional cooperation, saying this forum is a first step towards the gradual integration of capital markets in Carec region.
"We talk about cooperation, the ideal scenario to formalise it would be to have, for example, a Memorandum of Understanding among capital market regulators, and for this I suggest that Carec Secretariat should play its role and help the member countries to formulate such arrangements.''
He said the government wants to modernise the regulation of local capital and in this regards needs cooperation from the Central Asian countries. "We are evolving the mechanism for strengthening the country's institution for strong regulations."
APG places Pakistan on enhanced monitoring list for at least one year
The first Carec Capital Market Regulators Forum on Capital Markets was closed by the minister of economic affairs, who attended the seminar as the guest of honour.
The forum underscored the need to evolve strong and meaningful cooperation among capital markets in the Carec region. The participants included delegates from member countries – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar has said Pakistan will not get blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and that the country’s ratings will improve.
“Every conspiracy hatched by India to get Pakistan blacklisted has failed. The FATF recognises the efforts of Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing,” the minister said on Friday.
He was talking to the media after attending the closing ceremony of first Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) Capital Market Regulators Forum. The two-day forum was co-organised by the Security and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
FATF trouble unlikely to go away soon
Azhar said Pakistan is working fast on the FATF Action Plan and the recent meeting of the FATF has acknowledged this fact. “Pakistan has achieved success despite hostile propaganda by India.”
To a question, he said the FATF next meeting would be held in Bangkok and Pakistan would participate in meeting with full preparation and get success in this forum.
He said the government is successfully maintaining the Current Account Deficit (CoD) and in future the country would come out completely from CoD deficit. “Now priority of the government is to work on contracting fiscal deficit and removing this issue for economic stability and growth in the country.”
He hoped the government would come out of the issue of twin's deficit and the country would achieve the objective of economic stability and growth. Addressing the seminar, he earlier said Pakistan is setting up its capital market along modern lines using the experiences of the Central Asian countries.
“The Middle East is the hub of economic progress and we need to explore the economic resources of that region also. Pakistan is establishing capital market of international standard,” he said.
Hammad said a strong capital market will bring economic improvement and that poverty can be reduced through economic development. The government, he said, is working on economic reforms and institutions are being strengthened. Governance is being improved under this agenda.
"I strongly believe that vibrant and efficient capital market is important for resource mobilisation and supporting the economic development of this region," he said.
The minister laid stress on organising such events to ensure closer regional cooperation, saying this forum is a first step towards the gradual integration of capital markets in Carec region.
"We talk about cooperation, the ideal scenario to formalise it would be to have, for example, a Memorandum of Understanding among capital market regulators, and for this I suggest that Carec Secretariat should play its role and help the member countries to formulate such arrangements.''
He said the government wants to modernise the regulation of local capital and in this regards needs cooperation from the Central Asian countries. "We are evolving the mechanism for strengthening the country's institution for strong regulations."
APG places Pakistan on enhanced monitoring list for at least one year
The first Carec Capital Market Regulators Forum on Capital Markets was closed by the minister of economic affairs, who attended the seminar as the guest of honour.
The forum underscored the need to evolve strong and meaningful cooperation among capital markets in the Carec region. The participants included delegates from member countries – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP