Despite its efforts to earn support from member nations, Pakistan could continue to remain in the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list until June, reported PTI citing a media report. The plenary meeting of the global terror financing and money laundering watchdog is scheduled for next week. Pakistan was put on the FATF grey list in June 2018.

The FATF’s Plenary and Working Group meetings will be held from February 21 to 26 in Paris, France and will decide on Pakistan’s grey list status. 

In October last year, the FATF concluded that Pakistan will continue in its ‘grey’ list till February 2021 noting that the country failed to fulfil six key obligations, one of which was to take action against terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed.

According to a report in The Express Tribune newspaper, Pakistani officials admitted that the nation would remain in the ‘grey’ list at least until June.

“If agreed, the FATF on-site visit will help Pakistan come out of the grey list by June this year,” a senior Pakistani official dealing with the matter was quoted as saying.

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Pakistan has requested the member nations to support its case and allow the on-site inspection by the FATF, a crucial step that leads to the removal of the country from the grey list, it said.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organisations — the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.

Pakistan needs 12 votes out of 39 to exit the ‘grey’ list and move to the ‘white’ list. To avoid the ‘black’ list, it needs the support of three countries. China, Turkey and Malaysia are its consistent supporters.