Pakistan given 4-month grace period, avoids terror financing blacklist

"The Pakistani government has demonstrated strong political will to implement its action plan."

A global anti-corruption body warned Friday that Pakistan could join a blacklist of nations failing to fight money laundering and terror financing unless it changed course within four months.
"Despite a high level commitment by Pakistan to fix these weaknesses, Pakistan has not made enough progress," Xiangmin Liu, president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said in Paris.
"If by February 2020 the country has not made significant progress, we will consider further actions which potentially could include placing the country... on the blacklist," he said.
Pakistan has been on the FATF's so-called grey list since 2018, when it agreed to an "action list" of 27 measures to curb illicit money transfers used by terror groups.
Pakistan had been on the FATF blacklist for years before it was removed in 2015 following "significant progress" in fighting terror financing.
"The Pakistani government has demonstrated strong political will to implement its action plan," Liu said.
"We will provide all the necessary training and assistance, and we have called on our members and our global network to help in that regard," he added.
Only two countries, North Korea and Iran, are on the FATF blacklist, which severely crimps their access to the global financial system as well as international aid.

• Pakistan