'Pakistan taking steps to be upgraded to FATF white list'

The Pakistan incumbent government would achieve all targets of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and get the country out of the anti-money laundering body's grey list, said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Talking to the media on Saturday, the Minister said that the FATF recognised the steps taken by the incumbent government to control money laundering and terror financing, The Express Tribune reported.

Qureshi's remarks come after a FATF plenary meeting, which was held in Paris from October 13-18, on Friday formally announced that Pakistan will remain on its grey list for the next four months till February 2020, handing it a final lifeline.

It urged Pakistan to address all tasks given to it till February 2020.

The announcement was made by FATF President Xiangmin Liu who expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by Pakistan.

Separately, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar, who led the Pakistani delegation to Paris for the plenary, said Islamabad has targeted to complete all items on its FATF action plan and get upgraded from the grey to the white list in 2020, reports The Express Tribune.

"Pakistan has targeted to complete all items on its FATF action plan and will be upgraded from the grey list to the white list of the FATF in 2020. A coordinated effort from all regulators, LEAs, federal and provincial government departments is already underway," he tweeted on Saturday.

The Minister however, added that more work is needed to be done as Pakistan's action plan was perhaps the most ambitious and challenging one ever handed out to any country.

The global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering had placed Pakistan in the grey list of countries responsible for terror-financing in June 2018, presenting Islamabad with a 27-point action plan to adopt strict anti-money laundering measures till September 2019.