Islamabad, Feb 25 (PTI) Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that stolen assets worth USD 7 trillion of the poor countries parked in the financial safe haven nations was the chief cause of their underdevelopment.

Addressing the virtual launch event of the final report of the high-level panel on international Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for achieving the 2030 Development Agenda (FACTI Panel), Khan said trillions of dollars flow out of developing countries each year due to political and official corruptions.

“The Interim Report by FACTI Panel confirmed that due to political and official corruption, as well as crime and tax evasion, trillions of dollars flow out of developing countries each year,” he said.

“Seven trillion dollars in stolen assets are parked in the financial ‘haven' countries. The flight of these vast resources from the developing countries is a principal cause of their under-development, poverty, inequality and political instability,” he added.

He said the magnitude of the illicit financial flows is staggering which, if recovered and returned, can have a transformational impact on the development prospects of the developing countries.

Khan said that during the consideration of the Interim Report in September last year, he had suggested several global policy actions including, immediate return of stolen assets; penalties on the financial institutions, lawyers and accountants, and other “enablers” of corruption, crime and tax evasion; disclosure of the “beneficial ownership” of companies; and a coherent mechanism for monitoring illicit financial flows set up under the United Nations.

“I am glad that these proposals have been reflected in the Final Report of the Panel,” he said.

As the FACTI Report states, this is a systemic problem, embedded within the international financial architecture and requires a systemic solution which cannot be resolved by piecemeal or cosmetic actions.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)