Blow to Imran Khan govt: Pakistan drops 16 places to 140th spot in corruption index

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has dropped as many as 16 places in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021 compared to the previous year,

Transparency International

said in a report released on Tuesday.

Out of 180 countries ranked by CPI, Pakistan is now at the 140th spot with a score of 28.

This is a sharp drop compared to 2020 when Pakistan's CPI was 31 and it was ranked 124.

A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean, as per CPI.

The report comes at a time when the Imran Khan-led PTI government in Pakistan is facing increasing criticism over the nation's economic performance.

It will also be a big dent to the image of Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018 with the promise of providing a clean governance system.



String of woes
Khan's advisor on accountability, Shehzad Akbar, stepped down on Monday amid reports of his poor performance to bring the corrupt elements under the law.

To add to Khan's woes, Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal, Vice-Chair of Transparency International Pakistan, said that the ranking of Pakistan under the PTI government has gradually come down.

Pakistan was ranked 120th out of 180 countries in 2019. In 2018, under the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, Pakistan's ranking was 117 out of 180 countries.

Explaining the causes of low score of Pakistan, the report said the absence of the “rule of law” and “state capture” were the main reasons.

India's score unchanged
Comparatively, India's score stands at 40, in no change from 2020.

The ranking has improved to 85 from 86 last year.

Bangladesh's CPI is 26 and stands at 147th position.

Afghanistan, which is ranked 174 out of 180, is the other south Asian nation that is worse than Pakistan when it comes to corruption.

The report released by the Berlin-based non-profit organisation formed to combat global corruption said that corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86 per cent of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years.

Since its inception in 1995, the CPI has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.

The Index scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of public sector corruption, using data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks and others. The scores reflect the views of experts and business people

(With inputs from agencies)