January 29, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan’s rank has slipped by four places to 124th among 180 countries in International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2020.
For 2020, Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perceptions Index rankings were released yesterday.
The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives. It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
A country with a higher score has a higher rank.
Pakistan is ranked at 124 out of 180 nations with a score of 31 out of 100- a point lower than the previous year’s corruption score of 32. However, Pakistan has climbed 4 points on the index since 2012.
One of the reasons for the decline in Pakistan's score in the CPI list was its points in the 'Rule of Law Index' and 'Varieties of Democracy' (VDem) categories were lower than the previous year.
Nearly half of countries have been stagnant on the index for almost a decade, indicating stalled government efforts to tackle the root causes of corruption. More than two-thirds score below 50 with an average score of just 43, as per the report.
Denmark and New Zealand appeared as the least corrupt countries on the index, with 88 points, followed by Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, with scores of 85 each.
The most corrupt countries were South Sudan and Somalia, with scores of 12 each, followed by Syria with a score of 14, and Yemen and Venezuela with scores of 15 each.
In Asia, key economies such as India with a score of 40, Indonesia with 37 and Bangladesh with 26 experienced slow progress in anti-corruption efforts, with several government commitments to reform not yet materializing effectively.
The Maldives with a score of 43, which climbed 14 points on the index since last year, shows a positive trend and experienced advances in democratic space and the removal of several repressive laws.
Since 2014, China improved steadily on the CPI, increasing six points from a score of 36 in 2014 to 42 in 2020.
Since 2012, the earliest point of comparison in the current CPI methodology, 26 countries significantly improved their CPI scores, including Ecuador (39), Greece (50), Guyana (41), Myanmar (28) and South Korea (61).
Twenty-two countries significantly decreased their scores, including Bosnia & Herzegovina (35), Guatemala (25), Lebanon (25), Malawi (30), Malta (53) and Poland (56).
The report analyzed that corruption not only undermines the global health response to COVID-19 but contributes to a continuing crisis of democracy.
The past year highlighted integrity challenges among even the highest-scoring countries, proving that no country is free of corruption. To reduce corruption and better respond to future crises, Transparency International recommends that all governments:
- Strengthen oversight institutions to ensure resources reach those most need. Anti-corruption authorities and oversight institutions must have sufficient funds, resources and independence to perform their duties.
- Ensure open and transparent contracting to combat wrongdoing, identify conflicts of interest and ensure fair pricing.
- Defend democracy, promote civic space to create the enabling conditions to hold governments accountable
- Publish relevant data, guarantee access to information to ensure the public receives easy, accessible, timely and meaningful information.
Copyright Mettis Link News
.
39467
