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Bangladesh has moved up two steps in corruption perception index (CPI), but overall graft situation still remains a matter of concern, according to a report released by Transparency International (TI) on Thursday.
In accordance with CPI ranking for 2017 released by TI's local chapter - Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Bangladesh made her highest score of 28 on a scale of 0-100 among 180 countries surveyed--an increase by two points compared to 26 of the CPI 2016. The country's previous highest score was 27 in 2013.
With the improvement mainly driven by the positive perception of strengthening the country's legal, institutional and policy structures, Bangladesh's global ranking moved up two notches from both top and bottom of the composite index that was made public worldwide.
From top of the ranking, the emerging economy in South Asia now stood at 143rd position from 145th in 2016 while it ranked 17th from the bottom of the TI's flagship index.
The index covers 180 countries and territories on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Low score means more corruption. An average score of 43 is considered good in tackling the menace of corruption.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), local chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International (TI), released the index, prepared by the TI, at TIB's Dhanmondi office.
Despite such improvement in CPI 2017, Bangladesh stands as the second most corrupt country after Afghanistan in South Asia and fourth worst in the Asia Pacific as far as existence of corruption is concerned.
In the lowest positions on the global list are Somalia having scored only 9 points, followed by South Sudan (12), Syria (14), Afghanistan (15), Yemen (16) and Sudan (16).
New Zealand tops the list, having scored 89, followed by Denmark (88), Finland (85), Norway (85), Switzerland (85) and Singapore (84).
Speaking at the report launching programme, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said Bangladesh has made a slight improvement in tackling corruption which is a good sign.
"But we cannot be complacent as we have not yet reached satisfactory level (average score 43). So, we can say corruption still remains a serious challenge for Bangladesh and other countries across the globe as 59 per cent (107 nations) of the CPI-covered countries scored less than average," he said.
Mentioning the factors behind a slow progress in the ranking order, he said Bangladesh's position can be improved further if political commitments to combat graft are implemented and strict actions against top accused persons in high-level corruption charges are ensured.
Other factors like loan scams in the banking system, illicit money transfer, political control of contracts, monopolisation of political space, improper functioning of anti-graft bodies might impact Bangladesh's progress, he said.
Dr Zaman commented that people with direct or indirect links with power have continued grabbing lands, forests, rivers and water bodies illegally as well as practice of loan default.
At the same time, the controversy over Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) activities and capacity to take strict actions against top-level graft suspects continues unabated, he said. The level of public trust is low on the prospect of bringing to justice in foreseeable future the key actors in such high-profile corruption scandals, he added.
When his attention was drawn to the role of ACC in dealing with graft issues, he said it seems that the commission is now on 'off-line' in combating alleged corruption in the country's banking and financial sector. As a result, many of high-level graft accused are yet to be brought to book, which might impact the country's slow improvement in the CPI, he said.
Beside strong political commitment, the TIB executive director laid emphasis on independent and coordinated functioning of key institutions like Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank, ACC, NBR (National Board of Revenue), Attorney General's Office and Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
Asked whether the verdict against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia impacts Bangladesh in the index, he said the index was prepared before the verdict.
CPI provides international comparison of the countries by perceived prevalence of corruption.
Information used on CPI relates to corruption in the public sector, particularly political and administrative, conflict of interest, unauthorized payments in the delivery of government functions, justice, executive, law enforcement and tax collection. Government's capacity to control corruption is also gauged.
The CPI is generated on the basis of data collected from multiple reputable sources and this year's data for Bangladesh were collected from eight sources, including Economist Intelligence Unit-Country Risk Assessment, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, International Country Risk Guide and World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment.
Bangladesh was earlier placed at the bottom of the list for five successive years from 2001-2005. In 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, Bangladesh ranked 3rd, 7th, 10th, 13th, and 12th respectively while in 2011 and 2012 the country ranked 13th while 16th in 2013, 14th in 2014, 13th in 2015 and 15th in 2016.
TIB Trustee Board member M Hafizuddin Khan, its Deputy Executive Director Dr Sumaiya Khair, and Director (Outreach and Communication) of TIB Rizwan-ul-Alam were also present at the press conference.