Corruption as bad as before in Bangladesh, says Transparency International

There has been no improvement as far as corruption in Bangladesh is concerned, according to Transparency International (TI).

The Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog published its Corruptions Perception Index (CPI) 2015, covering 168 countries and regions, on Wednesday.

Bangladesh has been ranked 139 with a score of 25 out of 100. Last year, it was placed at 145 out of 175 countries with the same score of 25.

The index suggests Bangladesh is the 13th most corrupt country while last year’s index ranked it at the 14th.

Guinea, Laos, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Uganda also remained at par with Bangladesh, each scoring 25.

The anti-graft body's local chapter Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) launched the report in Dhaka at a media briefing on Wednesday.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, “The score is unchanged but the rank went down one notch from the bottom. The Anti Corruption Commission and Parliament will have to be more effective to improve from this situation.”

Denmark ranked at the top of the list as the least corrupt country scoring 91 followed by Finland and Sweden.

With a score of eight, Somalia and North Korea have been ranked as the most corrupt.

Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in 2015, TI said in a statement.

“The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a major problem around the world.

But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to fight corruption. People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power," it quoted TI Chair José Ugaz.

According to the TIB, no data gathered by their researches is considered for analysis and global rating and added to the CPI.

The TI centrally prepares the index based on reports of international organisations and surveys and ‘opinions of experts’.