Islamabad
Pakistan’s ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has improved by 7 positions from 140 in CPI 2022 to 133 in CPI 2023, Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday.
The CPI assesses perceived levels of public-sector corruption based on 13 independent data sources, utilising a scale of zero to 100, where zero represents highly corrupt and 100 signifies very clean.
In 2023, Pakistan recorded a CPI score of 29 out of 100, showing improvement from its 2022 score of 27 and a corresponding rise in rank from 140th to 133rd.
Interestingly, India experienced a slight decline in its CPI score, moving from 40 in 2022 to 39 in 2023.
Transparency International Pakistan Chairman, Justice (retd) Zia Pervez, highlighted the positive change in Pakistan’s score.
“This reflects on the anti-corruption efforts taken by different pillars of the state due to which Pakistan has witnessed an improvement in CPI 2023,” he was quoted as saying in the press release.
He said government policies aimed at better governance and effective enforcement of the laws are expected to yield positive results in the future, as well as through the implementation of the recommendations of Transparency International.
“Transparency International calls on governments to give justice systems the independence, resources and transparency needed to effectively punish all corruption offences and provide checks and balances on power. Where necessary, they must also introduce better procedures and laws to help justice institutions shield themselves from and target corrupt acts.”
The report indicates that most countries have made little to no progress in addressing public sector corruption. The global average for the CPI remains unchanged at 43 for the twelfth consecutive year, with over two-thirds of countries scoring below 50, indicating serious corruption issues.
