Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for a new legislation to effectively deal with offences related to money laundering and other corrupt practices that are negatively impacting the cash-strapped country’s economy.
The law, to be finalised within a week’s time, would further strengthen existing laws to effectively check hawala, hundi and other illegal and corrupt practices, The Express Tribune reported.
The decision was taken during a high level meeting at Prime Minister’s Office on Friday, where the PM further approved package to incentivise remittance through legal channels, the report said.
It was decided during the meeting that the State Bank of Pakistan, being regulatory authority in the banking sector, would take action against elements involved in facilitating the opening and operation of fake bank accounts in the country.
During the meeting, it was decided that the necessary amendments would be introduced in existing laws, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act 2010 to further strengthen them for effectively dealing with cases of money laundering and other illegal practices.
Meanwhile, secretary Interior informed that taskforces, at national as well as provincial levels, have been constituted with an aim to identify legislative and administrative constraints in effective implementation of the AML activities and to suggest corrective measures towards its eradication.
The provincial taskforces have been mandated to take timely action against those involved in activities falling within domains of hawala, hundi while the national taskforce will submit monthly report to the Prime Minister’s Office on performance, including coordinated actions undertaken and recoveries made.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is witnessing downward economic and social indicators as the ruling party has no “vision” and “capability”, opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said, in a scathing attack on Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government that has just completed its 100 days in office.
The PML-N leaders issued a White Paper late Friday, a day after Prime Minister Khan celebrated 100 days of his government and asserted that the country was put on path to progress.
In the white paper on the 100 days of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led administration, the PML-N criticised the government for “spending millions of rupees on advertisements in newspapers on its 100-day programme” and halting developmental construction projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn reported. (PTI)
