Dhaka/Berlin, 17 November 2009 – The Berlin-based international anti-corruption organization, Transparency International (TI) has today released its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009. The index provides international ranking of countries in terms of perceived degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption.
The results show that Bangladesh, having scored 2.4 compared to 2.1 in 2008 in a scale of 0-10, is among nine countries that have improved most. However, with the score remaining below the threshold of 3 the country, continues to be in the league of those where corruption continued to be pervasive. Bangladesh has been ranked 13th from below, which is 139th among 180 countries included in the index this year. In 2008 Bangladesh was 10th from below and 147th among 180. In the same position with the same score with Bangladesh this year are Belarus, Pakistan and Philippines.
In 2008 Pakistan and Philippines had scored 2.5 and 2.3 respectively, while Belarus 2.0.
It may be recalled that Bangladesh was earlier placed at the very bottom of the list for the fifth successive year from 2001-2005. In 2006 Bangladesh was ranked in no 3, in 2007 in no 7 and in 2008 no 10.Bangladesh’s score of 2.4 this year represents a significant improvement over last year (2.1). As the index represents 2-years rolling data, it reflects a perception of progress as a result of the then government’s nationwide crackdown on corruption during 2007-08, which was also accompanied by important institutional and legal reforms to strengthen the capacity to fight corruption. The result also indicates a positive assessment of the fact that many of those reforms were carried forward, or so promised, by the newly elected government elected to power in December 2008 with an unprecedented public mandate achieved, thanks inter alia, to their pledge to fight corruption.
“Whether or not the improvement achieved by Bangladesh will be sustainable and whether further progress will be achieved will depend on the new government’s will and capacity to deliver, especially in ensuring integrity, independence,impartiality and effectiveness of key institutions like the Parliament, Anti-corruption Commission, Election Commission,
Information Commission, Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the public service and the Human Rights Commission”said Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
“The government’s performance in ensuring integrity in public sector management, especially transparency in public procurement will be among key factors influencing Bangladesh’s score in coming years. Equally important will be the extent of progress in enforcing the Right to Information Act and in strengthening the local government” he said.
Like previous two years Somalia has remained at the bottom of the list implying that corruption in that country is perceived to be highest, followed by Afghanistan and Myanmar in the 2nd and 3rd position and Sudan and Iraq in joint
4th. At the other end, New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore have been ranked at the top, scoring 9.4, 9.3 and 9.2 respectively, meaning that in these countries corruption is perceived to be lowest, closely followed by Sweden and Switzerland with 9.2 and 9.0 respectively. Singapore is the only Asian country that has consistently been in the league of top 10. The only other Asian country to be among the top 15 countries is Hong Kong at number 12, performing better
than such highly developed countries as Germany, Ireland, UK, Japan and USA. Countries other than Bangladesh that have this year shown notable improvement are Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania,Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Syria and Tonga. On the other hand, significant declines in score have been seen in the scores of Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Malta and Slovakia. As the world economy begins to register a tentative recovery from the Global Financial Crisis and some nations continue to wrestle with ongoing conflict and insecurity, it is clear from the CPI 2009 that no country or region of the world is immune to the perils of corruption.
“At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI). The vast majority of the 180 countries included in the 2009 index score below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be
highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption). The CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector 3 corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The 2009 edition scores 180 countries, the same number as the 2008 CPI. Fragile, unstable states that are scarred by war and ongoing conflict linger at the bottom of the index. These are: Somalia, with a score of 1.1, Afghanistan at 1.3, Myanmar at 1.4 and Sudan tied with Iraq at 1.5. These results demonstrate that countries which are perceived as the most corrupt are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance infrastructure.
When essential institutions are weak or non-existent, corruption spirals out of control and the plundering of public resources feeds insecurity and impunity. Corruption also makes normal a seeping loss of trust in the very institutions and nascent governments charged with ensuring survival and stability. Countries at the bottom of the index cannot be shut out from development efforts and international assistance. Instead, what the index points to is the need to strengthen their institutions. Investors and donors should be equally vigilant of their operations and as accountable for their own actions as they are in demanding transparency and accountability from beneficiary countries. Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI are New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid,functioning public institutions. Overall results in the 2009 index are of great concern because corruption continues to lurk where secrecy rules, where institutions still need strengthening and where governments have not implemented anti-corruption legal frameworks. Even industrialised countries cannot be complacent: the supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve
businesses based in their countries. Financial secrecy jurisdictions, linked to many countries that top the CPI, severely undermine efforts to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets.
Globally and nationally, institutions of oversight and legal frameworks that are actually enforced, coupled with smarter, more effective regulation, will ensure lower levels of corruption. This will lead to a much needed increase of trust in public institutions, sustained economic growth and more effective development assistance. Most importantly, it will alleviate the
enormous scale of human suffering in the countries that perform most poorly in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
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