Sri Lanka’s score below the global average

The CPI ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people. At 38, Sri Lanka’s score is below the average score of the Asia-Pacific region (31 countries) and global average, the CPI 2020 report stated. Sri Lanka’s overall score is also two points less than that of India, which docked at 86th position, with a score of 40. Pakistan, however, scored just 31 points, falling at the 144th position on the index.

Sri Lanka is the 94 least corrupt nation out of 180 countries, Corruption Rank in Sri Lanka averaged 84.06 from 2002 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of 97 in 2009 and a record low of 52 in 2002.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sri Lanka’s score is below the average score of the Asia-Pacific region (31 countries) and the global average.
• The list was topped by New Zealand and Denmark (88 each), followed by Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Singapore (85 each).
• South Sudan and Somalia were at the bottom of the global ranking, with scores of 12 each.

Corruption and COVID-19

The CPI 2020 report noted the menace of corruption is highly pervasive in countries that least equipped to tackle COVID-19 crisis. “COVID-19 is not just a health and economic crisis. It is a corruption crisis. And one that we are currently failing to manage. The past year has tested governments like no other in memory, and those with higher levels of corruption have been less able to meet the challenge,” The Times of India quoted Delia Ferreira Rubio, Transparency International chief, as saying.

The latest edition of CPI highlighted the impact of corruption on government responses to COVID-19, comparing countries’ performance in the index to their investment in health care and the extent to which democratic norms and institutions have been weakened during the pandemic.