IMF asks Pakistan to implement anti-money laundering laws

IMF staff directed Pakistan to devise a clear policy to detect 'suspicious transactions' in tax crimes

Islamabad: Pakistan has been asked by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure strict implementation of anti-money laundering laws, ARY News reported.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) officials briefed the IMF regarding anti-money laundering and suspicious bank transactions during talks in Islamabad for the next review for the delivery of the USD 700 million loan tranche.

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The sources said that the SBP briefed the international lender on Pakistan’s economic performance from July to March, while the FBR officials briefed the visiting delegation about tax crimes and also presented a report.

IMF staff directed Pakistan to devise a clear policy to detect ‘suspicious transactions’ in tax crimes and asked to pass clauses for strict punishment in the upcoming finance bill.

The delegation was briefed that Pakistan is already awarding strict punishment and blocking bank accounts for money laundering, ARY News reported.

The FBR was urged upon by the IMF mission for strict enforcement to end money laundering. Earlier, it emerged that the international lender has demanded more recovery of income tax from retailers and real estate sectors while increasing income tax recovery on agriculture income.

Sources said the IMF has urged the federal government and provinces to make joint efforts for tax recovery.

Recently, the IMF urged Pakistani authorities to bring agriculture, real estate, and retail sectors into the tax net, Geo News reported.

The recent demand was kept during an ongoing review of the USD 3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA), Geo News learned on Thursday.

As per the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sources, the tax collection plan has been shared with the global lender’s team and the IMF will recommend further measures after reviewing the plan.

During the talks, both sides identified potential areas for bridging financing shortfalls and agreed on further measures if FBR failed to achieve the tax collection target.