Kathmandu, 21 February (HS): Nepal has once again come in the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In the FATF meeting held in Paris, the capital of France, it has been decided to put Nepal in the 'grey list' again for the next two years. With this decision, the risk of Nepal getting economic cooperation from various agencies being affected has increased.

More than 200 members of global networks and supervisory organizations including the International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank, Interpol and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units attended the FATF meeting in Paris. This decision has been made public on the FATF website. The FATF statement said that Nepal has been included in the 'grey list' due to non-development of software for the targeted financial section to reduce the risk of financial investment and money laundering in terrorist activities and lack of software for the regulation of non-profit organizations.

Reacting to the FATF decision, Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, economic advisor to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, has said that Nepal has been put back in the 'grey list' due to non-compliance of various conditions. He said that now Nepal's chances of getting loans and financial assistance from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, etc., and reduction in grants and assistance have increased.

Earlier, Nepal was put in the grey list from January 2008 to January 2014. After this, Nepal was removed from this list by creating a legal and institutional framework.

The reason behind being in the 'grey list' is that Nepal has not been able to make laws regarding money laundering and financial support for terrorist activities. The bill related to this is pending in the Parliament for the last four months.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar