THE Philippines is "making significant progress" with regard to exiting a global anti-money laundering watchlist, a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said, noting that removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list is crucial for attracting foreign investments.

"We are happy to see that there's a sort of all-hands-on-deck approach in the government to really try to get the Philippines off the FATF gray list," IMF Mission Chief Elif Arbatli Saxegaard told reporters in a briefing on Monday.

"It's not an easy process involving many institutions, many parts of the government," she noted.

"[I]t's a very huge undertaking, and we commend the authorities' efforts on this front. They are really committed, and I think they are making significant progress."

The country, blacklisted from 2000 to 2004, was placed back on the FATF gray list in 2021 due to "strategic deficiencies" in its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems.

Blacklisting had caused foreign banks to avoid processing Philippine transactions, increasing funding costs and deterring investors.

Being on the gray list means increased monitoring by the Paris-based FATF. The Philippines missed a January 2023 deadline to remedy its deficiencies and was initially reported to have received a one-year extension.

In its latest update, the FATF in February this year urged the country to "swiftly implement its action plan to address the ... strategic deficiencies as soon as possible as all deadlines expired in January 2023."

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