Pakistan drops three spots on Corruption Perceptions Index

BERLIN: According to a report released by Transparency International (TI), an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Berlin, Pakistan was ranked 120 out of 180 countries on the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

To rate countries, CPI uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is quite good. Pakistan’s ranking-32/100-for the year 2019 was well below the CPI average of 43. Moreover, TI said more than two-thirds of the countries on the list this year ranked below 50 on the ranking.

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Each year, the Berlin-based non-profit launches the index, ranking 180 countries and territories according to experts and businessmen by their alleged levels of corruption in the public sector. For the years 2017 and 2018 Pakistan was ranked 117th.

In 2018, the nation ranked 33/100 on the CPI, and in 2017 32/100. Although Pakistan’s score on the index did not change much compared with the previous year, the changes in other countries ‘ CPI scores on the list resulted in Pakistan dropping down the rankings.

As per Transparency International, the 2019 CPI reveals that corruption is more common in countries where big money can flow freely through election campaigns and politicians only listen to the voices of rich or well-connected people.

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“The corrupting role of big money in political party finance and the undue influence it exerts on political systems must be discussed immediately by governments,” said Transparency International President Delia Ferreira Rubio, TI Managing Director Patricia Moreira, who also repeated Rubio’s words.