The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) decision to place Pakistan on the grey list three times since 2008 has cost Islamabad $38 billion, reported Express Tribune.
The newspaper quoted a report published by an independent think-thank, Tabadlab, stated that grey-listing events spanning from 2008 to 2019, may have resulted in cumulative GDP losses worth $38 billion.
According to the report, the losses are worked out on the basis of reduction in consumption expenditures, exports, and foreign direct investment (FDI). The report has attributed most of these losses to the reduction in household and government consumption expenditures.
“The author of the research paper argued that the data suggested that Pakistan’s removal from the grey list has at times led to the revival of the economy, as evident from an increase in the level of GDP for the years 2017 and 2018 when Pakistan was not on the grey-list,” Tribune reported.
Pakistan was first placed on the list in 2008 for one year. In 2012, Islamabad was penalised by the FATF again and this time it was removed from the list after three years. In 2018, the country found itself on the FATF list again and has been trying to get off it ever since.
France and some other European countries have recommended the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to continue to keep Pakistan on the grey list, saying Islamabad has allegedly failed to comply with the conditions set by the global watchdog, according to a report in Dawn newspaper.
The decision on whether Pakistan will remain or remove from the list will be announced on Feb 25 (today) after a three-day-long plenary meeting of the global watchdog.
