The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), after a five days meeting in Paris on October 15, 2019, retained its earlier decision to keep Pakistan on its grey list till February 2020. FATF has urged Pakistan to fully comply with the Action Plan mutually decided in 2018 for coming out of the grey list. Despite the decision, FATF acknowledged the progress made by Pakistan in updating and implementing its Anti-Money Laundering Laws and countering Financial Terrorism.
There are two views regarding Pakistan’s continuation on the grey list for the next four months. Pessimist views make a critique on why Pakistan was not able to make it out of the grey list. The optimistic arguments are appreciating Pakistan’s compliance and commitment to implement the Action Plan despite internal political, financial and economic challenges faced by the country.