FATF grey-listing to financially hurt Pakistan in coming days: Report

Cash-starved Pakistan is set to face more financial difficulties and the cost of doing business would go up after the country was again placed on the "grey list" by a global anti-money laundering body for failing to curb terror financing, experts said. Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list' on June 27 after it failed to put in place measures to prevent money laundering and other illegal transactions that may be used for financing terrorism. Though the move may not hit the country immediately, its impact could be felt in the coming months as bankers said the cost of doing business would get higher and the situation for banks would become more difficult than it was during 2012-15 when the country figured in the FTAF's list, media reports said. "Cost of doing business will be higher due to this grey list but it is manageable for banks with some difficulties," Hussain Lawai, a banker, told Dawn newspaper. "Remember we were in the watch list from 2012-2015 but we managed to continue doing business," he noted.