The Financial Action Task Force has decided, in principle, to keep Pakistan in its Grey List till February 2020, directing Islamabad to take extra measures for complete elimination of terror financing and money laundering, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

A formal announcement about the interim developments will be made on Friday, which is the last day of the FATF’s ongoing session, the report said.

However, Pakistan’s Finance Ministry spokesperson Omar Hameed Khan rejected the reports of the country remaining in the Grey List, saying “it is not true and nothing before October 18 ”.

Earlier at the FATF meeting in Paris, Pakistan’s Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar had explained his country’s positive performance in 20 of the 27 parameters to check terror financing.

China, Turkey and Malaysia “appreciated” the steps taken by Pakistan, Dawn News reported. The support of at least three countries is required to not blacklist any country.

The meeting is being attended by representatives from 205 countries, the IMF, the UN, the World Bank and other organisations. Concerns were also raised on the tax amnesty scheme offered in Pakistan, the report added.