Azhar reiterates commitment to FATF action plan: Plenary meetings begin from February 16

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar Wednesday said Pakistan remained committed to the earliest completion of its Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan, as the plenary meetings of the global watchdog were scheduled to begin from February 16 in Paris.

The federal minister took to social media on Wednesday, tweeting, "Pak remains committed to the earliest completion of its FATF Action Plan. FATF Plenary is a technical process. Irrespective of and without speculating on any final decision at the plenary, we look forward to acknowledgment of significant progress that Pak Authorities have made."

The FATF Plenary and Working Group meetings are scheduled to be held in Paris from February 16-23. Pakistan will be judged by an FATF plenary meeting on the basis of the joint group's report that was concluded last month.

Azhar, who led a Pakistani delegation during the three-day talks with the FATF in Beijing last month, had stated that Pakistan had made significant progress towards combating money laundering and terror financing, but it was premature to speculate on the decision that the FATF members would take in the plenary in February.

"Pakistan authorities have worked very hard over the months and I feel we have made significant progress in our AML/CFT efforts. We remain committed to sustaining this momentum," he had said.