ISLAMABAD: Pakistani law minister Farogh Naseem has said the country had done “everything” to be removed from a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list and Pakistan’s case would now serve as a test of the “fairness” of the global financial watchdog.
Pakistan was placed on FATF’s grey list of countries in 2018 for inadequate terror funding and money laundering controls.
In June this year, FATF President Marcus Pleyer said Islamabad had made “significant progress” but there remained “serious deficiencies” in mechanisms to plug money laundering and terrorism financing.
The country was also handed another seven-point action plan to be implemented along with the original 27 points to exit the grey list.
Speaking to an international media outlet in comments published on Tuesday, Naseem said Pakistan had met 26 out of the 27 action points and now the country was “actually a test of FATF’s fairness.”
“The FATF people are good people. I'm not being critical against them,” the law minister said. “But as long as these (FATF) standards are universally applied, and not applied to only Pakistan, and as long as there is no international politics, then we welcome FATF. Let it be applied to everyone.”
Following the June review, Pakistan said it was committed to complying with the FATF evaluation process.
“It was also noted by FATF member countries that Pakistan is subject to perhaps the most challenging and comprehensive action plan ever given to any country,” Pakistani federal minister Hammad Azhar wrote on Twitter.
Azhar, who was then leading Pakistan’s effort to implement the FATF roadmap, said the country was “subject to dual evaluation processes of FATF with differing time lines.”
Last year, Azhar said FATF had acknowledged that any blacklisting, meaning further downgrading of the country’s status, was off the table now.
But Pleyer said in June the risk of Pakistan being put on the blacklist had not gone, and the country must continue to work on outstanding action points to fix its financial monitoring mechanisms.
Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
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Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
- Law minister says Pakistan has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on a 2018 action plan by FATF
- Pakistan placed on grey list of countries in 2018 over inadequate money laundering, terror funding controls
Afghan trade resilient in 2025 as Iran, Central Asia routes offset Pakistan closures
- Tensions with Islamabad this year disrupted established transit corridors that connected Afghanistan to seaports for decades
- Afghan traders moved cargo through Iran’s Chabahar port , expanded overland shipments via Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan
KABUL: Afghanistan’s trade remained resilient in 2025 despite repeated closures of key border crossings with Pakistan, commerce ministry data showed, as exporters and importers increasingly relied on alternative routes through Iran and Central Asia.
The stability came even as tensions with Islamabad disrupted established transit corridors that have been landlocked Afghanistan’s main gateway to seaports for decades.
Traders instead moved cargo through Iran’s Chabahar port and expanded their overland shipments via Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, cushioning the impact of delays and political uncertainty.
Total trade — the value of exports and imports combined — rose from the previous year to nearly $13.9 billion in 2025, according to the commerce ministry. Exports stood at roughly $1.8 billion, broadly steady year on year, while imports increased to just over $12.1 billion.
India, Pakistan and several Central Asian states remained among Afghanistan’s largest export destinations with shipments dominated by dried fruit, coal, carpets, saffron and agricultural produce.
Imports continued to be led by fuel, machinery, food staples and industrial inputs, mainly from Iran, the United Arab Emirates, China and regional neighbors. Afghanistan is accelerating efforts to reduce its reliance on Pakistan in the wake of border closures linked to security disputes.
While Pakistan remains its fastest route to the sea, Afghan officials say diversifying its trade corridors has enabled commerce to continue even while relations with its eastern neighbor remain strained.
