Transparency International has released its annual summary of how corruption is perceived in world economies, and — as in previous years — US business is blamed for inadvertently corrupting the Third World, which, in turn, says TI, prevents developing countries from breaking free from poverty.
The Berlin-based think tank also blames corrupt political elites and unscrupulous investors for killing sustainable economic growth in poor countries.
TI’s 2002 “Corruption Perception Index” (CPI) ranks 102 countries, the highest number ever. The latest CPI found that 70% of surveyed countries had corruption index scores of five or less, with 10 being the “cleanest” score.
“Political elites and their cronies continue to take kickbacks at every opportunity,” says Peter Eigen, TI’s chairman. “Hand in glove with corrupt business people, they are trapping whole nations in poverty and hampering sustainable development. Corruption is perceived to be dangerously high in poor parts of the world, but also in many countries whose firms invest in developing nations.”
Eigen believes politicians only “pay lip-service” to the fight against corruption, “But fail to act on the clear message of TI’s CPI: that they must clamp down on corruption to break the vicious circle of poverty and graft. Seven out of ten countries score less than five out of a clean score of 10 in the CPI 2002, which reflects perceived levels of corruption among politicians and public officials.”
The 2002 CPI blames corrupt political elites, greedy business people and dishonest investors for putting private gain before the welfare of Third World citizens and the economic development of their countries.
“From illegal logging to blood diamonds, we are seeing the plundering of the earth and its people in an unsustainable way,” says Eigen.
According to the 2002 TI Index, the most corrupt countries are — in worsening order — Moldova, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, Angola, Madagascar, Paraguay, Nigeria and Bangladesh. These countries had TI corruption scores of less than 2.
Countries judged “clean” or “nearly clean” by TI had scores of nine and higher, and are — in “cleaner” order — Britain, Canada, Luxembourg, Sweden, Singapore, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, and Finland.
Among the 102 countries surveyed in the 2002 CPI, the United States ranks just six places below Britain at 16, South Africa ranks 36, Brazil ranks 45, and Russia ranks near Uganda at 71.
“In the past year, we have seen setbacks to the credibility of democratic rule,” says Eigen. In parts of South America, the graft and misrule of political elites have drained confidence in the democratic structures that emerged after the end of military rule. Argentina, where corruption is perceived to have soared, joins Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti and Paraguay with a score of three or less in the CPI 2002.”
While some countries in transition from communism — most notably Slovenia, which has a cleaner score than EU member countries Italy and Greece — are perceived to be increasingly less corrupt, many countries in the former Soviet Union remain ridden with corruption. “The recent steps by President Vladimir Putin to introduce tax reforms and new laws fighting money-laundering are beginning to show the prospect of a lessening in perceived corruption in Russia,” explains Eigen.
“But the CPI 2002 indicates that Russia has a long way to go and remains seriously corrupt,” Eigen adds. “Russia — together with Uzbekistan, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Azerbaijan — scores less than three out of 10.”
The CPI is a ‘poll of polls,’ reflecting the perceptions of business people and country analysts, both resident and non-resident. First launched in 1995, this year’s CPI draws on 15 surveys from nine independent institutions. A rolling survey of polls taken between 2000 and 2002, the CPI includes only those countries that feature in at least three surveys.
“It is important to emphasize that the CPI, even with 102 countries, is only a snapshot and covers barely half the more than 200 sovereign nations in the world,” says Eigen. “There is not sufficient data on other countries, many of which are likely to be very corrupt.”
The CPI 2002 complements TI’s Bribe Payers Index (BPI), which addresses the propensity of companies from top exporting countries to bribe in emerging markets.
The BPI 2002, published in May 2002, revealed high levels of bribery by firms from Russia, China, Taiwan and South Korea, closely followed by Italy, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, USA and France.
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