Pakistan continues to slip in the corruption index under the Imran Khan government

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Pakistan has slipped to number 140 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by international organisation, Transparency International.<br />
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The organisation said: "The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean".</p>
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During PM Nawaz Sharif's government, corruption decreased despite the massive development, which was the result of transparency, good governance & legal reforms. Now corruption has hit an all-time high despite the fact that no worthwhile development has taken place. <a href="https://t.co/x4q7kgXWdy">https://t.co/x4q7kgXWdy</a></p>
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1485859212529913857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Under the Imran Khan government, Pakistan has been slipping in rankings year after year. In 2019, it stood at 120, in 2020 it came 124 and now it has dropped to 140 out of the 180 countries, <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1671401/pakistan-slides-16-spots-on-corruption-perceptions-index-now-ranks-140-out-of-180-countries-report">reports the <em>Dawn</em></a>.</p>
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In the region, India stood at 85 while Bangladesh at 147.<br />
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Like in earlier years, countries that continue to head the rankings are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, followed by Norway, Singapore and Sweden.<br />
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Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, Venezuela and Afghanistan languish at the bottom of the CPI.<br />
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Transparency International says that corruption remains at a standstill worldwide with 86 per cent countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years. For Pakistan it said that the absence of "rule of law" and "State capture" has resulted in the low score for Pakistan.<br />
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The report said that Singapore, Bangladesh and Pakistan increased digital surveillance during the pandemic to silence those who were trying to hold governments accountable during the spread of Covid-19.<br />
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The release of the findings gave ammunition to Pakistan's opposition parties.<br />
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Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif tweeted: "Corruption rampant in 'Naya' Pakistan of "anti-corruption Mujahid". According to Transparency International, PTI govt has broken all records of corruption in the last 20 years. Among Asia-pacific region, Pakistan has unfortunately been ranked as the 5th most corrupt country".<br />
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Sharif added that "corruption has hit an all-time high despite the fact that no worthwhile development has taken place… The international organisation's report is an indictment and the corrupt rulers should resign. The country cannot bear their plundering anymore".</p>