LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Punjab general secretary Hammad Azhar on Saturday congratulated the nation on completing the 34 requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); “the decision was anticipated as we had done our work”.

“Our government had fulfilled 32 out of the total 34 requirements to be removed from the FATF grey list and had also prepared a report on the last two requirements which was submitted in April”, he said while addressing at a press conference, adding that the PTI government formed a FATF coordination committee which included all the relevant state institutions, and the officers of the committee worked day and night.

“A difficult phase had now come to an end”, he added.

“The PTI government passed dozens of legislations just to comply with the FATF’s demands while our financial systems were upgraded and officers trained. The real heroes in this success are officers of various departments”, he added.

According to him, Pakistan’s efforts to comply with the FATF requirement to get off the grey list were exemplary and added that the world has acknowledged that Pakistan’s economic system is now world-class. Strict action against money laundering increased remittances. After getting out of the grey list, Pakistan should get FATF membership, akin to Russia, who too had been on the list but now is a member. Only after becoming a member will be able to raise our voice against the violation of FATF laws in other countries.

He further said that India’s role, whenever FATF reviewed Pakistan’s progress in combating terrorism and curbing money laundering, has historically been negative and this is something the previous PTI government highlighted.

“It was clear that India was trying to use this platform for political purposes”, he added. The former minister said that remittances rose in the last three-and-a-half years as work on reforms began and that the country was currently running on remittances from abroad.

“At present, our remittances from overseas Pakistanis are more than our exports and thus it was harsh to take taxes from them but not give them the right to vote”, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022