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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Preventing AIDS through
social marketing of contraceptives
Guidelines for intervention
German Development Ministry budget for 2005
German Development Ministry concept on fighting AIDS
Malaria vaccine testing successful
Small loans, big impacts
400 billion dollars annually in bribes
“Leave us in peace!”
Separating civilian aid and the military
12/2004
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[ Corruption Perceptions Index 2004 ]
400 billion dollars annually in bribes
For Peter Eigen, the president of Transparency International (TI), corruption on large-scale public projects is a “daunting obstacle to sustainable development.” According to TI estimates, at least 400 billion dollars are lost worldwide annually as a result of bribery on public contracts. This equals seven times the entire global budget for development aid and amounts to “a major loss of public funds needed for education, healthcare and poverty alleviation, both in developed and developing countries,” Eigen said at the presentation of this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index in London in late October.
According to the index, 106 of 146 countries score less than five of possible points, meaning that corruption is perceived as a problem in two thirds of the indexed countries. 60 countries score less than three points, indicating rampant corruption. Singapore, in 5th place with 9.3 points, is the top-scoring Asian country, while Chile, in 20th place with 7.4 points, ranks highest among Latin American countries. Botswana, in 31st place with six points, is the top-scoring country in Africa, ranking higher than Italy. Once again, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Haiti have the lowest scores. According to TI’s data, Austria, El Salvador, France, Gambia, Germany, Tanzania and Uruguay and some others perform better in this year’s index than they did last year. Bahrain, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Mauritius and Senegal are among those whose rankings have slipped.
The index shows that corruption is perceived as being particularly widespread in oil-rich countries such as Angola, Aserbaijan, Chad, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq and Russia. “In these countries, public contracting in the oil sector is plagued by revenues vanishing into the pockets of western oil executives, middlemen and local officials,” Eigen said. TI therefore calls on western nations to require oil companies to disclose all payments made to governments in the producing countries. (ell)
On the net:
http://www.ICGG.org
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