Chairman, TI-Pakistan Chapter, Sohail Muzaffar, advocate, accompanied by Adviser, TI-Pakistan, Syed Adil Gilani, while releasing the CPI at a press conference here said that Pakistan CPI rank had fallen by nine, from 42nd most corrupt country in 2011 to 33rd most corrupt country in 2012, not a good sign indeed.
He said Pakistan had also been declared on November 28, 2012 as the seventh most corrupted country out of 97 in the Rule of Law Index of 2012, which "indicates that the corruption level in Pakistan has increased substantially". Even Chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had declared that daily corruption in Pakistan is to the tune of Rs 7 billion, which means in five years of the government it touched Rs 12,600 billion. Similarly, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) member Asrar Rauf is on record having said that in January and February by collecting Rs 150 billion, FBR will whiten Rs 15,000 billion under new Tax Amnesty Scheme (in last five years total FBR collection was approximately Rs 7,500 billion).
A growing outcry over corrupt governments forced several leaders from office last year, but as the dust has cleared it has become apparent that the levels of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings are still very high in many countries. Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 shows corruption continues to ravage societies around the world. Two thirds of the 176 countries ranked in the 2012 index score below 50, on a scale from zero (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), showing that public institutions need to be more transparent, and powerful officials more accountable.
"Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people," said Huguette Labelle, the Chair of TI while releasing the CPI 2012 in Berlin. In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tie for first place with scores of 90, helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions.
Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia once again cling to the bottom rung of the index. In these countries the lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions underscore the need to take a much stronger stance against corruption. "Corruption is the world's most talked about problem," stated Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of TI. "The world's leading economies should lead by example, making sure that their institutions are fully transparent and their leaders are held accountable. This is crucial since their institutions play a significant role in preventing corruption from flourishing globally," de Swardt said.
In the 2009 CPI Pakistan had been ranked as 42 most corrupt country among 180 countries, with a score of 2.4 and in ranking as most corrupt country had slipped five ranks, from 47 in 2008 to 42 in 2009. It was followed by Bangladesh and India. New Zealand had been ranked as the cleanest country and Somalia ranked 180 as the most corrupt country. It had revealed the effects of corruption in the subcontinent, which is more alarming in Pakistan, as Bangladesh which was the most corrupt country in 2001, 2002 and 2003 had improved in ranking from 38 most corrupt country in 2008 to 42 in 2009.
The CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. In Doha United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) conference held in November 2009, the United Nations had put a price tag on corruption - estimating that up to 1.6 trillion dollars in public assets move across borders each year through networks such as money laundering or into secret holdings.