ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has ranked 124 out of 180 countries, dropping four points over 2019 in the newly-released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by the Transparency International (TI) – an annual index that ranks countries based on perceptions of public-sector corruption.
The 2020 edition of the CPI ranked 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.
Pakistan lost four positions in 2020 compared to 2019 and seven positions compared to 2018.
In 2019, Pakistan ranked 120th on the global corruption list and 117th in 2018.
In neighbouring countries, the corruption score of India, Iran, and Nepal also worsened by one point and Malaysia's by two points.
On the other hand, Afghanistan's corruption score improved by three and Turkey's by one.
TI Pakistan chairperson Sohail Muzaffar said that in CPI 2020, Pakistan’s score has lowered to 31/100 from 32/100 in 2019 and rank to 124/180 from 120/180 in 2019.
This is despite the extraordinary efforts of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which claims to have recovered Rs363 billion in the last two years, and the Public Accounts Committee’s claims to have recovered Rs300 billion in the last two years, he maintained.
He said in the neighboring countries, corruption score of India, Iran and Nepal is reduced by one and Malaysia score reduced by two.
Similarly, Afghanistan’s score has improved by three and of Turkey by one.
Muzaffar said that Pakistan has been ranked on 124th position out of 180 countries in the 2020 CPI, adding Pakistan’s score has lowered to 31/100 this year from 32/100 in 2019.
He said that Pakistan has scored less than last year on two counts: the rule of law index and varieties of democracy.
Pakistan ranked at the 117th place for the years 2017 and 2018.
The country had scored 33/100 on the CPI in 2018 and 32/100 in 2017.
Although Pakistan's score on the index has not changed much compared to the past year, changes in the scores of other countries on the list can be one reason why Pakistan slipped in the ranking.
In a tweet, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said this corruption perception report is from the last tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
He further explained that the data was collected from eight organizations and six out of total score remained unchanged.
He said changes came in verities of democracy project and justice project rule of law index word.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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