Anti-money laundering operation: Shrieks arising from Sindh, says Imran

Mehtab Haider *** Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced to launch massive and historic clampdown against money laundering to curb $10 billion outflow, saying the FATF conditions for taking action against armed militias and money launderers were in the interest of Pakistan.

Without naming any political leader, the premier said that the historic clampdown against money laundering would soon be launched and cries had already started coming from Sindh.

“We don’t have any scares from the FATF and the IMF. Although, Pakistan is facing challenging situation but now it’s manageable. Without creation of wealth, the country cannot come out from the debt and the IMF programme. We are not in a hurry and now in comfortable situation and will get the IMF programme only with reasonable conditions,” the premier said while talking to economy reporters here at the PM Office.

Imran Khan said Pakistan would get the IMF loan in case of ‘reasonable conditions’ as there was no urgency after getting packages from Saudi Arabia, UAE and China.

Flanked by Minister for Finance Asad Umar, Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry, Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant on media Yousaf Baig Mirza, Iftikhar Durrani and Federal Secretary Information Shafqat Jalil, the PM said he was really worried in first few months and reminded that it was third week of government after coming into power when there were serious economic problems, but now he was quite confident that “everything was manageable” despite the fact that the country was still facing challenges.

He said Pakistan has gained “breathing space” and now the country was all set to get turnaround on economic front at fast pace. “I am now hopeful that the turnaround will be achieved,” he added.

The prime minister said uncertainties were over after getting packages from friendly countries but now discussions were underway for getting the IMF loan. He said the addiction of loans and aid resulted into such a poor condition as the country’s international relations were dependent upon getting financial package even at the cost of sovereignty of the country. The culmination of wrong policies, he said, had caused heavy price as they took steps to overcome yawning current account deficit that had widened to $19 billion. He said remittances could touch level of $30 billion as work for achieving this goal was underway.

When asked by this correspondent about challenging situation on account of the IMF and FATF conditions, the PM replied that the FATF conditions were beneficial for Pakistan when they asked for taking action against money laundering and armed militias. “The world has changed and US State Department gave figure of $10 billion outflow and if half were stopped we could save a lot,” he said. The premier said Pakistan’s relations with US and Afghanistan improved a lot in the context of Islamabad’s role for peaceful settlement and relations with India were at standstill in the wake of elections, but debate had triggered there on New Delhi’s reluctance for avoiding bid to normalise relations with Pakistan. He said the smuggling of currency and under invoicing would be tackled. He said that the biggest ever foreign direct investment was coming from Saudi Arabia for establishment of oil refinery.

The premier said Pakistan possess huge potential and he came to know about this potential after coming into power, but mismanagement caused heavy losses to the country. He said the creation of wealth and earning profits were perceived as wrong, but the country could not make progress without creation of wealth and ease of doing business. He said that reliance on debt could not be overcome in few months period as he could only set the direction. Without creation of wealth, he said, there was no other choice to come out from the debt trap.

Imran Khan said he wants to save poorest segments of the society from pain of the IMF conditions so he always talked about protecting them from pain of difficult economic decisions. “I am going to announce the best poverty alleviation programme,” he promised and added that the government did not raise tariff of electricity and gas for the poorest of the poor slabs. He said the IMF programme talked about structural adjustments for raising revenues and slashing expenditures. “We have become addicted to loans and aid,” he added.

The premier said the government achieved better economic understanding with China as now transfer of technology, relocation of industry and enhancing agriculture productivity have become part of the CPEC agenda. He said Pakistan’s geo-strategic location increases its importance manifold because of having 120 million youth and cheap labour which had turned the country as perfect place for investment.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan while addressing the concluding session of a two-day Envoys Conference on Economic Diplomacy here at the Foreign Office directed the envoys to rise to the occasion and promote soft image of Pakistan abroad through proactive economic diplomacy.

The prime minister asked the envoys to shun past attitude of ‘business as usual’ approach and instead work in coordination with various ministries to attract foreign investment and boost Pakistan’s exports to achieve “profitability and not profiteering”.

“We, as a nation, must change our mindset and become a self-reliant nation to prosper economically,” Imran Khan said.

The conference focused on how to scale up trade and investment - critical to Pakistan’s economic revival. The premier guided the envoys to work as a team with various ministries and departments to attract foreign investment and boost exports unlike in the past.

Imran said the time had come when Pakistan should walk away from continuously seeking aid and borrowing money to survive. “We now must think beyond the shortcuts and bring changes in the financial structure to enable long-term planning for growth. Profitability and not profiteering, is what we should opt for to achieve economic stability,” he said.

The premier further said that “profitability, businesses and ease of doing business is what we should promote to create wealth and attract investment.” Imran regretted that our elites have ditched the country at international level for their own vested interests. He said past rulers projected themselves as progressive and painted rest of the nation as extremist, causing an enormous damage to the national image.

Highlighting importance of expatriates, the prime minister said overseas Pakistanis are our great asset, which needs to be better utilised. Paying tributes to overseas Pakistanis the prime minister said that this group has to be targeted to bring in investment something they shunned in the past because of Pakistan’s reputation of corruption and mistreatment.

“Our investors must create an atmosphere of coordination with the overseas Pakistanis. Investors also must ensure assistance, with compassion, to the skilled labour that travels abroad to earn for themselves and their families. Our Pakistani expatriates go abroad by facing many hardships. They are learning various skills there and you should help them,” he said.

"We need teamwork which was not there until today. Remember that we overseas Pakistanis are the ones who work for up to 12 hours leaving their families behind," he said.

"There should be special empathy for them; there should be special communities for overseas Pakistanis since these working class people reach abroad braving great difficulties," he said.

Touching upon his pet theme, the prime minister asked the envoys to help check money laundering from Pakistan. He cited a recent JIT report on fake bank accounts which stated how money was stolen and laundered abroad. He, in this respect, also referred to a US State Department report which estimated an annual $10 billion money laundering from Pakistan, adding, the government was taking steps to check this menace, but they (envoys) would also have to help the government.

“Therefore, we must encourage and promote our youth, businesses and our industries in order to meet the goal of investments,” the premier said. “With this teamwork and performance, Pakistan can prove to be a major winner,” he said.