The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday is expected to make a formal announcement on whether to blacklist Pakistan or to keep it on its grey list. Earlier on Tuesday, the Paris-based terror financing watchdog had decided to keep the Imran Khan-led country on its grey list till February next year. The FATF had also directed the country to take "extra measures" for the "complete elimination" of terror financing and money laundering.
The meeting of the international watchdog reviewed the measures taken by Pakistan to control money laundering and terror financing, on which it observed that Islamabad will have to take further steps on the two parameters in these four months.
According to Pakistani media reports, the FATF has linked the blacklisting of the country with "unsatisfactory steps to curb money laundering and terror financing".
The formal announcement of these decisions is scheduled to be made on Friday at 12:00 (local time) which is the last day of its ongoing session.
The watchdog had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and was given 15 months to complete implementation of a 27-point action plan, failing which it be placed in the blacklist along with Iran and North Korea.
What would happen next?
If Pakistan continues to remain to the grey list, it would become very difficult for the Imran Khan government to get financial aid from global money lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, further making a more precarious situation for its plunging economy.
Earlier this week, representatives from 206 countries and jurisdictions from across the world had begun a meeting for the FATF Week in the French capital. Six days of meeting were focused on disrupting financial flows linked to crime and terrorism and discuss ways to contribute to global security.
China's stand on FATF report
China's stand on Pakistan's risk of being 'blacklisted' will also be taken under consideration as the crucial plenary meeting of the watchdog came following the two-day 'informal' meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coastal town of Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.
China currently holds the current FATF presidency and all eyes will be on Beijing that is an all-weather ally of Pakistan.
Pakistan was placed on the Grey List by the watchdog in June 2018 and was given 15 months to complete implementation of a 27-point action plan, failing which it be placed in the Black List.
The Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the FATF had recently made public its report on money-laundering and terror-financing in Pakistan.
The FATF-APG report had 10 parameters for 'Effectiveness and Technical Compliance Ratings' and 40 for 'Technical Compliance Ratings'.
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