'A remarkable achievement': Pakistan one step away from exiting grey list, says Khar.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Saturday said that Pakistan is now "one step away" from exiting the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "grey list", and the planned on-site visit is a procedural requirement.

She was briefing the media a day after the watchdog acknowledged that Pakistan had completed the action plan items and had secured an on-site visit to verify the implementation and sustainability of the country's money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures before removing it from its increased monitoring list.

"The 2018 action plan has been closed and no pendency of action remains on Pakistan's part," she said.

She shared that Pakistan had submitted three progress reports to the FATF regarding an action plan given last year which was related to money laundering. "I am pleased to announce that Pakistan has completed the entire seven-point action plan a year ahead of the given timelines."

Khar said the development spoke volumes about the comprehensive reforms carried out in Pakistan in the anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing (AML/CFT) domain and credited the country's "sustained momentum and efforts".

"Consequent to the fruitful discussions held at the plenary, the FATF has decided by consensus that Pakistan has addressed all technical benchmarks and completed all ... action plans [given in] 2018 and 2021."

She termed the FATF's acknowledgement "no less than a herculean feat and a remarkable achievement".

Read: There and back again: A timeline of Pakistan's unfortunate 'grey listing' by FATF

Talking about the on-site visit, the minister said it was part of the procedure for removing Pakistan from the "grey list" and would validate the process of implementation of reforms.

"Pakistan is one step away from exiting the grey list," she stressed. "The on-site visit marks the beginning of the end [of the] process that will eventually culminate in Pakistan's exit from the grey list, hopefully forever."

Khar shared that the government was working closely with the global watchdog to schedule the visit at mutually convenient dates so the process could be concluded prior to the FATF's plenary session in October.

We have been highlighting complete national consensus. I assure of the government's commitment to take this [process] forward with national consensus. I also want to stress that Pakistan's cooperation with the FATF and the international community is grounded in our strategic objective...