(TAP) - Tunisia will officially and definitively leave, in October 2019, the blacklist of the countries strongly exposed to money laundering and terrorist financing, announced Friday Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Marouane Abassi.

"This will allow it to automatically exit the European list," he added during a press briefing, held at the headquarters of the BCT.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded at a meeting held Thursday in the United States that Tunisia had finished off its action plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, specifying that the FATF will pay a visit towards mid-September to Tunisia to check on the implementation of this plan.

"Tunisia has managed to complete this action plan in record time," he pointed out, adding that a legislative and procedural framework had been set up over a short period of 17 months (from December 2017 to April 2019).

In this regard, he recalled the adoption by the Parliament of the law on the national business register and the amendment of the law on fight against corruption and money laundering, in addition to the publication of seven decrees related to the national business register and the prohibition of money laundering.

"It is imperative today to no longer make the same mistakes so as to no longer appear on such lists," he insisted, referring to the experience just acquired by Tunisia in matters of risk prevention of terrorist financing and money laundering.

Asked by TAP about the repercussions of Tunisia’s exit from the blacklist, Abassi said that this will allow Tunisia to keep the same rating granted by Moody's and Fitch Ratings, stressing the need to enhance transparency in order to attract investment.