PAKISTAN CONFIRMS IT WILL BE ON FATF GREY LIST IN JUNE
Pakistan Today on 28th February reported that, after a week of uncertainty, Foreign Office Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal confirmed that the country will be added to the FATF watch list pertaining to terror financing and money laundering in June.
HOW WILL BEING ON THE FATF GREY LIST ACTUALLY IMPACT PAKISTAN?
In an article dated 1st March, The Diplomat poses this question, answering it by saying – economically, not much. But could it force a change in Pakistan’s approach to extremist groups? The article points out that some analysts have argued that the grey-listing will squeeze Pakistan’s economy and make it harder for the country to meet its mounting foreign financing needs, including potential future borrowings from the IMF. They have also argued that the grey-listing could lead to a downgrade in Pakistan’s debt ratings, making it more difficult to tap into the international bond markets. However, the factual evidence, both historic and current, suggests that these assertions are simply incorrect. Pakistan was on the FATF grey-list from 2012 to 2015, a period during which it successfully completed an IMF programme and raised over $5 billion from the international bond markets. During this period Pakistan’s imports and exports remained stable, evidence that the grey-listing did not raise any significant barriers to trade.
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