ISLAMABAD (DNA) – The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Tuesday unanimously passed two revised bills, including the Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Anti Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and recommended that the bills might be passed by the Assembly – seeking amendments in order to meet requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Thereby, now travelling within the country with the amount of $10,000 or more requires permission from the State Bank of Pakistan.

Earlier, the state implemented restriction in travelling abroad while carrying $10,000 or more.

The committee led by former finance minister Asad Umar convened a session of the NA’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, and proposed certain amendments.

The NA committee discussed the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2019 clause by clause and unanimously recommended that the subject bill may be passed by the National Assembly with a few amendments – with an aim to curb transfer of money used by terrorists.

However, opposition members were of the view that the bills would be used inappropriately and demotivate investment in the state.

The two bills are aimed at strengthening the existing laws on money laundering and foreign exchange control to make them more stringent to fight money laundering, hundi and hawala and effectively regulate foreign exchange transactions to meet standards of the FATF.