ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is lobbying with different countries around the world to foil a move by the United States and its European allies to get it placed on a global terrorist-financing watchlist, it revealed on Thursday.
State Minister for Finance Rana Afzal while responding to a calling attention notice about Pakistan’s possible placement on the terror-financing list told the Upper House that the move to put Pakistan on the terrorist-financing watchlist was a political manoeuvre on the part of the US and UK.
He said the US banding together with Britain to place Pakistan on the watchlist was a “dangerous step” intended to pile political pressure on Pakistan.
A meeting of FATF member states is due to take place next week in Paris, where the organisation could adopt the motion on Pakistan.
The minister said Pakistan had already submitted an annual compliance report to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) earlier in January and the motion submitted by the US was therefore confusing.
He said Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal had recently concluded visits to the US and UK to convince their governments to withdraw the motion. Moreover, the foreign secretary had visited Italy and other government representatives had been to Korea and Japan to woo their support against the move. Currently, the adviser to PM on finance is also on the tour of European countries in this regard, he added.
“We are contesting this matter and hope to get support [from other countries],” the minister said, revealing that the government has also contacted all foreign embassies in this regard.
Afzal stressed that Pakistan had seized the assets of banned groups in compliance with FATF regulations, and expressed the fear that investment and funds meant for development projects would be adversely affected if Pakistan was added to the ‘grey list’.
The FATF maintains grey and black lists for countries that have fallen short of establishing concrete measures to counter money laundering and terror financing.
Pakistan was previously on the FATF watchlist from 2012 to 2015. The FATF, an intergovernmental body based in Paris that sets global standards for fighting illicit finance, had previously warned Islamabad it could be put back on the list without further efforts to crack down on the flow of funds to militants.
Pakistani officials and Western diplomats said being put on the FATF watchlist could deal a blow to Pakistan’s economy, making it harder for foreign investors and companies to do business in the country.
The implications of Pakistan being placed on the watchlist have already begun to show signs, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index plunging 411 points to close at 42,942 on Thursday, as a bearish spell continued to prevail at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
“Investors traded cautiously ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s key meeting in Paris next week as the United States and few European countries plan to table a motion with FATF to put Pakistan back on its watchlist,” a report issued by the Topline Securities earlier today read.
Published in Daily Times, February 16th 2018.
