NEW YORK: The Financial Action Task Force, global watchdog on terror financing and money laundering, on Friday allowed Pakistan to exit its grey list against the backdrop of its warming relations with the West while Russia was banned from all deliberations of the body.
While Tanzania, Congo and Mozambique were added to the great list, Nicaragua also exited the grey list along with Pakistan which had been under close FATF monitoring since 2018.
An onsite visit by a FATF team in August found that it was broadly in compliance with all the 34 action points it has been asked to improve.
Pakistan can now more effectively tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, said FATF chief Raja Kumar of Singapore.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani had reached Paris earlier this week with a team representing Pakistan.
Pakistan getting off the grey list would ensure more foreign direct investment, which had shown a downward trend recently and there would also be a reduction in foreign scrutiny of global transactions.