Corruption worsens TI report shows Pakistan ranked 124 out of 180

Newswire

Islamabad: Transparency International this week released its annual report, showing that the corruption situation in Pakistan has worsened in 2020.

The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2020 has revealed that persistent corruption is undermining health care systems and contributing to democratic backsliding amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries that perform well on the index invest more in health care, are better able to provide universal health coverage and are less likely to violate democratic norms and institutions or the rule of law.

Chairman Transparency International Pakistan Chapter Sohail Muzaffar said that Pakistan had been ranked on 124th position out of 180 countries in the 2020 CPI. “Pakistan’s score has lowered to 31/100 this year from 32/100 in 2019,” he said.
Sohail Muzaffar went on to say, “This is despite the extraordinary efforts of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which claims to have recovered Rs 363 billion in the last two years, and Public Accounts Committee claims to have recovered Rs 300 billion in the last two years.”

Chair of Transparency International Delia Ferreira Rubio said, “The past year has tested governments like no other in memory, and those with higher levels of corruption have been less able to meet the challenge. But even those at the top of the CPI must urgently address their role in perpetuating corruption at home and abroad.”

Meanwhile, corruption perceptions in other countries in the region including India (40 points), Iran (25 points) and Bangladesh (26 points) improved, even if by small margins. Afghanistan’s score (19) has also improved by three points and so did Turkey (40), according to CPI’s statistics.

In 2020, the CPI focused on the impact of corruption on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and found that persistent corruption not only undermines healthcare systems but also contributes to democratic backsliding. Countries that performed well on the index generally invest more in healthcare and, therefore, are in a better position to provide coverage to all their citizens. They are also less likely to violate democratic norms and institutions or the rule of law, the report said.

Commenting on the findings, chair of Transparency International, Delia Ferreira Rubio, said: “The past year has tested governments like no other in memory, and those with higher levels of corruption have been less able to meet the challenge. But even those at the top of the CPI must urgently address their role in perpetuating corruption at home and abroad.”