Transparency International said Pakistan’s ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) improved by seven spots from 140 out of 180 countries in 2022 to 133 in 2023, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
The report published by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog, said that during 2023, Pakistan’s ranking was 133 while the CPI score was 29 out of 100. Pakistan’s ranking in 2022 was 140, unchanged from the previous year, while the CPI score was 27.
India’s CPI score dropped from 40 in 2022 to 39 in 2023. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
In his remarks, Transparency International Pakistan Chairman Justice (r) Zia Pervez observed improvement in Pakistan’s score in the index.
He said policies aimed at good governance and effective enforcement of the law were likely to yield positive results in the future, as well as implementation of the recommendations by Transparency International.
The 2023 CPI shows that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling public sector corruption. The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the twelfth year in a row, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50.
Transparency International Chair Francois Valerian said: “Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption.”