Rehman Malik thanks FATF President for five-month relief
Islamabad: Chairman Senate Standing Committee Senator A. Rehman Malik has thanked President, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Marshall Billingslea for granting a relief of five month to Pakistan amid Coronavirus outbreak in the country and has urged him to grant permanent relief to Pakistan by removing it from ‘Grey List”.
He has also thanked UN Chief whom he had written a letter on March 26th, 2020 pleading to play a role in removing Pakistan name from FATF Grey List in wake of Coronavirus outbreak. In this regard he sent letters of thanks to President FATF, Secretary General UN and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to UNO.
Senator A. Rehman Malik had written a letter to FATF’s Chief earlier on March 21st, 2020 in which he had pleaded him to remove the name of Pakistan from FATF’s Grey List in wake of coronavirus outbreak to enable the country to exercise full potential against the pandemic. In his letter, he had conveyed “with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing human tragedies, closure of production units, damage to the social fabric, and severe strains on the global supply chains, the threats to Pakistan’s economy have increased manifold.’’
He had expressed that the unmitigated spread of COVID-19, due to lack of sufficient resources driven by financial restrains, is a regional mega-human tragedy in waiting. The ongoing pandemic is pushing all states towards rapidly escalating economic regression, threatening the human security and brewing severe socio-economic imbalances that are ripening to trigger massive migration issues in the region”. He had plead that solicit your (President FATF) review of the circumstances, particularly in the light of COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing humanitarian concerns, to remove the name of Pakistan from the FATF’s Grey List.
Today on Wednesday, when the news of relief from FATF broke as surprise for the country, Senator A. Rehman Malik not only thanked Mr. Marshall Billingslea in a letter but also reinforced his earlier request of permanent removal of Pakistan from FATF’s Grey List.
In his letter issued today on April 8, 2020, Senator A. Rehman Malik writes “I would like to request you to kindly reconsider permanent removal of Pakistan from the Grey List of FTAF in wake of Pakistan being victim of COVID – 19, so that Pakistan can successfully combat the deadly Coronavirus which has been emerged as a major threat to human lives and world economy.”In another letter to United Nation Secretary General, while thanking him for his support in relief to Pakistan, Senator Rehman Malik pens “I would like to request you to kindly reconsider to support Pakistan for permanent removal of Pakistan from the Grey List of FTAF in wake of Pakistan being the victim of COVID – 19, so that Pakistan can successfully combat the deadly Coronavirus which has been emerged as a major threat to human lives and world economy.” Meanwhile he has also appreciated Mr. Munir Akram Pakistan permanent representative in UN and writes to him “Five month relief by FATF is not enough, as we need to work more for permanent removal of Pakistan from the Grey List of FATF”.
