Pakistan unlikely to exit 'grey' list of global terror funding watchdog

Pakistan is unlikely to exit the Financial Action Task Force's 'grey' list until June, despite its efforts to garner support from the member nations ahead of the plenary meeting of the global terror financing and money laundering watchdog next week, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The FATF's Plenary and Working Group meetings, scheduled to be held from February 21 to 26 in Paris, is all set to decide on Pakistan's grey list status. Pakistan was placed on the FATF 'grey' list in June 2018 and given a timeline to address global concerns by implementing 27 action points.

The FATF, during its virtual plenary in October last year, concluded that Pakistan will continue in its 'grey' list till February 2021 as it has failed to fulfil six key obligations of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog that include failure to take action against two of India's most wanted terrorists -- Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed. According to a report in The Express Tribune newspaper, although Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sounded optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming FATF meeting, officials admitted that Pakistan would remain in the 'grey' list at least until June. However, it noted that ahead of the FATF plenary, Pakistan has been seeking the support of member countries for an on-site visit, a crucial step -- if agreed -will brighten Islamabad's chances of formally exiting the 'grey' list by June. "If agreed, the FATF on-site visit will help Pakistan come out of the grey list by June this year," a senior Pakistani official dealing with the matter was quoted as saying by the report.