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How India convinced China to vote against Pakistan in FATF

08:25 PM | 23 Feb, 2018
How India convinced China to vote against Pakistan in FATF
ISLAMABAD - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday decided to put Pakistan on the greylist, submitting it to intense scrutiny on terror financing.

China withdrew its objection to the nomination, allowing consensus to go through, sources said.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/pakistan-survives-attempt-to-put-it-on-fatfs-grey-list/

Earlier this week, Pakistan had claimed victory in the ongoing FATF meeting as a preliminary discussion in the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) failed to build a consensus on putting it again on the watch list.

However, US and Indian officials had called the claim “premature” and said a final decision was still to come.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/fatf-finally-decides-to-put-pakistan-on-grey-list-after-china-saudi-arabia-withdraw-support-for-pakistan-reports/

On Wednesday morning, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja M. Asif, who was in Moscow at the time, tweeted that Pakistan had won a reprieve of three months in which to convince the international body not to put it on a “greylist” of countries where terror financing and black money laundering needed scrutiny.

Pakistan was on the FATF watch list from 2012 to 2015, then only on issues of money laundering.

“Our efforts paid[off],”. Asif wrote, adding that the committee had proposed a three-month pause with another report to be considered in June.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/us-led-move-to-put-pakistan-on-fatfs-terror-financing-watchlist-reprived/

This is the first time that China acceded to an Indian prompt and did not stand firm with Pakistan at a global anti-terror forum, thus landing a crippling blow on Pakistan’s financial credentials. The process of monitoring Islamabad will, however, begin from June on the basis of a roadmap that FATF will prepare by then.

In the United Nations, China, as a permanent UN Security Council member, has single-handedly blocked key terror designations like that of JeM’s Maulana Masood Azhar, despite Indian and US requests.

Ironically, it was the statement of Pakistani Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif, announcing that Pakistan had managed another reprieve from FATF, which provided the opening for a second bid by the US to get Pakistan on to the watchlist.

https://twitter.com/KhawajaMAsif/status/966030847949398016

Asif, it appears, celebrated early when the proposal did not move through the shorter plenary of the FATF. Here, China, Turkey, and the Saudi-Arabia-led Gulf Cooperation Council as a single bloc voted against the move to put Pakistan on FATF’s terror watchlist.

After Asif’s statement, India and the US launched a renewed effort. Washington, sources told the international media, introduced a fresh proposal in the longer plenary using Asif’s statement as an example of Pakistan’s lack of seriousness towards FATF and its rules of confidentiality.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/fatf-dismisses-pakistans-claims-of-three-month-reprieve-sources/

FATF rules state that if a minimum of three members' votes against the proposal, then it cannot go through. While the US worked on Saudi Arabia and Turkey, India dealt with China alone.

Hectic diplomacy went on in New Delhi, Washington and Beijing as FATF considered the proposal in Paris.

Eventually, the Indian delegation, acting on instructions from New Delhi, struck a deal with the Chinese team that related to support for a greater FATF role for Beijing in the future.

Soon, all the three objections were removed and the proposal went through Thursday, though a final statement will emerge after the last day of the meeting Friday.

Consequences of the decision:

Through this decision, Pakistan will be put on regular monitoring, all banking transactions in the country will come under closer global watch, thus pulling down Pakistan’s credibility in global financial transactions.

In technical terms, Pakistan has been put in a review process under the International Cooperation Review Group of the FATF. It had been under review earlier but was removed in 2015.

Specifically, on the FATF table, the proof is against JeM front Falah-i-Insaaniyat and LeT and its front Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which are evidently transacting financial business without much difficulty.

The FATF follows an elaborate process to assess compliance, based on which it issues public statements on countries with deficiencies. Countries on this grey list are practically treated like pariahs in the international financial system. North Korea, Iran and Uganda are examples of some ‘jurisdictions’ that keep struggling within this list.

The economic and commercial consequences of such grey-listing can be quite debilitating.

Previous attempt was blocked:

In November, at the Buenos Aires plenary of the FATF, China managed to push back a similar effort, getting Pakistan off the hook.

All that Pakistan was asked to do was give an action taken the report on LeT, JuD and Falah-i-Insaniyat foundation at the next plenary, which is held three times a year.

The Asia Pacific Group (APG) conveyed to the FATF that Pakistan could be given a break and assessed directly in 2019, when its turn comes up for country evaluation.

India objected, saying Islamabad has done little to get a two-year reprieve and that it should be put on 90-day reporting to the International Cooperation Review Group of the FATF. While India did not get the desired result in Buenos Aires, it managed China’s support in Paris.

Pakistan faced a similar risk in 2016 when the APG had found measures taken by Islamabad inadequate. One of the first actions that the Trump administration took in January 2017 was to summon the Pakistani ambassador and inform him of the consequences this could lead to.

This action resulted in the Pakistani government placing Hafiz Muhammad Saeed under house arrest. The FATF plenary in February 2017 took note, but asked Pakistan to submit another report to the APG. Pakistan protested and then rallied support with the active help of China to get a positive outcome within the APG.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/miftah-ismail-reaches-paris-to-plead-pakistans-case-in-fatf-meeting/

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Pakistani rupee exchange rate to US dollar, Euro, Pound, Dirham, and Riyal - 9 Dec 2023

Pakistani rupee remains largely stable against the US dollar, and other currencies in the open market on Saturday.

Dollar Rate in Pakistan Today

On Saturday, the US dollar was being quoted at 283.4 for buying and 285.95 for selling.

Euro comes down to 307 for buying and 310 for selling. British Pound rate remains unchanged at 358.5 for buying, and 362 for selling.

UAE Dirham AED witnessed slight drop and new rate stands at 77.2 whereas the Saudi Riyal remained stable at 76.

Source: Forex Association of Pakistan. (last update 09:00 AM)

Currency Symbol Buying Selling
US Dollar USD 283.4 285.95
Euro EUR 307 307
UK Pound Sterling GBP 358.5 362
U.A.E Dirham AED 77.2 78
Saudi Riyal SAR 76 76.8
Australian Dollar AUD 187.2 189
Bahrain Dinar BHD 755.82 763.82
Canadian Dollar CAD 209 211
China Yuan CNY 39.82 40.22
Danish Krone DKK 41.14 41.54
Hong Kong Dollar HKD 36.37 36.72
Japanese Yen JPY 3.41 3.52
Kuwaiti Dinar KWD 922.14 931.14
Malaysian Ringgit MYR 60.82 61.42
New Zealand Dollar NZD 175.33 177.33
Norwegians Krone NOK 26.12 26.42
Omani Riyal OMR 738.71 746.71
Qatari Riyal QAR 78.07 78.77
Singapore Dollar SGD 211 213
Swedish Korona SEK 27.32 27.62
Swiss Franc CHF 324.5 327
Thai Bhat THB 8.08 8.23

Gold remains under pressure in Pakistan; Check today gold rates here

Gold prices witnessed negative trend in local markets in line with the trend in the international market.

Gold Rates in Pakistan Today - 9 December 2023

On Saturday, the price of a single tola of 24-karat gold stands at Rs217,600, and 10 grams of 24k gold costs Rs186,560.

Single tola of 22 Karat Gold price costs Rs199,465, 21 karat rate per tola costs Rs190, 400 and 18k gold rate is Rs163,200.00 for each tola.

In the global market, gold prices hovers around $2,004 per ounce, after drop of $23.35 on Saturday.

Today Gold Rate in Pakistan

City Gold Silver
Lahore PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Karachi PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Islamabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Peshawar PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Quetta PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Sialkot PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Attock PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Gujranwala PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Jehlum PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Multan PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Bahawalpur PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Gujrat PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Nawabshah PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Chakwal PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Hyderabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Nowshehra PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Sargodha PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Faisalabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Mirpur PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530

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