Sri Lanka flunks graft test

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2006, 00:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka fell into the bottom half of 163 nations in ranking in Corruption Perceptions Index, the annual evaluation produced by Transparency International, a Berlin-based graft watchdog, reports said. In the report released Monday, Sri Lanka scored 3.1 out of a possible 10.

Finland, Iceland, and New Zealand tied for the first with the near perfect score of 9.6. Haiti, Myanmar and Iraq were the bottom three, with scores below 1.9.

“Corruption traps millions in poverty,” said Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle. “Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today’s results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world’s poorest citizens.”

"Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption include: Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States. Countries with a significant improvement in perceived levels of corruption include: Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay," the report said.

Transparency International also said in its website that "TI will launch its 2006 Global Corruption Barometer which looks at public perceptions of the level of corruption in major institutions such as the courts, parliament and the police. The Barometer is published in anticipation of International Anti-Corruption Day, 9 December 2006."

External Links:

TI:

2006 Corruption Perceptions Index