- Authorities called this asset class a “common scam”
- The country is not ready to risk the “white” status of the FATF for the sake of a dubious market
- Pakistan was removed from the “grey list” of unreliable states in October 2022
On Tuesday, May 17, a meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance was held under the leadership of Senator Salim Mandviwal. During this event, the Central Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Information Technology announced that they are working together to completely ban cryptocurrencies in the country.
It is reported local media. Finance Minister Aisha Gaus Pasha stressed that virtual assets will never be officially accepted in Pakistan as criminals use them to finance terrorism.
In addition, the head of the department referred to the decision of the FATF to exclude Pakistan from the “grey list”. According to her, the government does not intend to ignore the recommendations of the structure regarding compliance with AML rules.
In the near future, cryptocurrency services and websites will be completely blocked. In addition, the country will ban any promotion of digital assets in the media space. The Pakistani authorities consider the industry to be a “common scam”.
During the meeting, supporters of a total ban noted a “catastrophic” drop in the capitalization of the Central Asian market. Also, committee chairman Salim Mandwiwala pointed out that the Pakistanis lost “a lot of money” on investments in a “failed project.”
The politician did not elaborate on what exactly is being discussed. The committee also referred to the example of China and, oddly enough, the United States, pointing out the need to follow the course of more developed countries.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the Standing Committee on Finance instructed the authorities to develop a bill to completely ban cryptocurrencies. There is reason to believe that it will be ready and adopted this year.