Finally, a sigh of relief for Pakistan as it is out of the FATF grey-list. The decision of the global anti-money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog has come at a time when the country is struggling to avoid a financial default. No doubt, Pakistan went out of its way to oblige the Paris-based consortium that suspected the country of indulging in terrorism through the receipt and misuse of dirty money. That was not the case, per se. It was rather a calculated move to penalise Pakistan and make it fall in line, keeping in view the changing dynamics of power politics and geo-economics. That is why Pakistan had been kept on toes since 2018, irrespective of the fact that it was consistently doing its bit in terms of necessary legislation and executive moves to fulfil 34 items on the do-list. The fact that Islamabad acted consciously on its own by implementing two of the unending wish-list concerns is a laudable achievement.
FATF on Friday gave a clean chit, and said that Pakistan has successfully implemented both the Action Plans. This entails cracking down on sleeping terror cells and their finances as well as prosecuting them, accordingly. A visit of the FATF team in August humbly noted that Pakistan has strengthened risk-based supervision of financial and non-financial institutions, improved asset confiscation outcomes, and thoroughly probed money-laundering.
A good point as far as Pakistan’s internal order is concerned, the coordinated move and determination to nail down dirty money annexures and cleanse the system of loopholes has strengthened institutional portfolios. The credit inevitably goes to the civil and military leadership. It goes without saying that the ousted Imran Khan-led government made great strides and the necessary legislation it carried out is a case in point. Pakistan was made to face a tough time all these years at the hands of a jaundiced international monitoring, but it culminated in making a grand point. Pakistan is a peace-loving and ordered civil society, and is alive to the concerns of global parameters. This aspect needs to be appreciated and disseminated.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2022.
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