Transparency International (TI) has ranked Bangladesh one step down in the global corruption perception index (CPI) 2021, placing it 147th among 180 countries with a score unchanged at 26. The country’s position was 146th in 2020. The Berlin-based global corruption watchdog indexes countries from the least corrupt to the most corrupt. It was also one of the countries with a concerning trend of weakening of all anti-corruption institutions, said the TI report, released worldwide on Tuesday.
It is a common perception that corruption in Bangladesh has been a continuing problem. According to all major ranking institutions, Bangladesh routinely finds itself among the most corrupt countries in the world. Bribery, rent-seeking and inappropriate use of government funds, excessive lobbying, long time delays in service performance, pilferage, irresponsible conduct from the government officials, bureaucratic intemperance have made public sector departments the most corrupt sectors of the country.
In South Asia, Bangladesh remains the second lowest both in the CPI scoring and ranking – better than only the war-torn Afghanistan, which has scored 16 and ranked 174th from the top, while Bhutan continues to score and rank the best – 68 and 25th from the top respectively. In Asia-Pacific, Bangladesh has ranked third from the bottom, better than only Cambodia followed jointly by Afghanistan and North Korea. The ten-year trend from 2012-2021 reveals Bangladesh has stagnated at the score of 26. The best-ranked countries are Finland and New Zealand, with a score of 88. The worst is South Sudan with 11.
Terming the country’s performance ‘disappointing’, the TI observes that erosion of political integrity and linkage of politics with abuse of power, corruption and criminality are some reasons behind it. The whole machinery has been corrupted as a power behind the government. The people are powerless to change without free election. Change will come through collapse of government.
