New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Bangladesh has been ranked as the 13th lowest in the world with a score of 24 out of 100 in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025 released by Transparency International (TI).

This rank is one step lower, counted from the bottom, compared to 2024 and two points lower than Bangladesh’s overall average during 2012-2025. The country also remains the second lowest in South Asia, better than only Afghanistan. Besides, Bangladesh is globally in the lowest quintile within the list of 182 countries, among 122 that scored below 50, and among 96 that scored below the global average of 42.

Accordingly, Bangladesh has been listed among countries having a “very serious corruption problem”, according to a report in Dhaka-headquartered The Daily Star.

Looking at Bangladesh’s performance more closely, a score of one point higher compared to the previous CPI represents a recognition of the power of the July uprising that caused the collapse of kleptocracy and created aspirations of “dekleptification”, the report stated.

However, the failure to carry forward and build the foundation for transformation has also been evident. Post-uprising Bangladesh has witnessed sustained corrupt practices in political and governance spaces nationally and locally. The failure of the interim administration to set examples of governmental transparency, integrity, and accountability, as well as setbacks in the reform process, also denied us a better overall score, the report pointed out.

Many countries that previously scored similarly to or even lower than Bangladesh (examples include Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, and Angola) have successfully managed to improve their CPI standing thanks to sustained efforts to push comprehensive and strategic institutional reforms and carry out robust digitalisation of public services in tandem with effective prosecution of high-level corruption, especially political, governmental, and corporate., the report further statef.

The key global message of CPI 2025 is that corruption is worsening worldwide, even in countries claiming to be democracies, due to deteriorating standards of compliance and enforcement. However, the index also shows that corruption is not inevitable. Many countries have proved that progress is possible if political leaders and governments act with integrity and take action to tackle corruption beyond rhetoric, implement robust institutional and political reforms for transparent and accountable governance, effectively prosecute the corrupt (especially those engaged in political, governmental, and corporate corruption), end attacks on media and civic space, and dismantle the secrecy structures and networks that enable illicit flows of corrupt and swindled money within and across borders, the report stated.

Bangladesh’s interim government has failed to adopt a comprehensive and strategic approach in determining the reform agenda in general and anti-corruption in particular. There was no reform implementation plan, no risk analysis, nor any risk mitigation strategy. The foundation for state reform that has been created through various ordinances has been rendered fragile due to “ad hocism”, political and bureaucratic resistance, and a pick-and-choose approach.

Almost nothing has been done to reform the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), leaving the aspirations for its independence, accountability, and effectiveness only a pipe dream. The government’s failure to walk the talk of transparent, accountable, and conflict-of-interest-free governance has been clear. Inaction and even resistance from the ACC, in collusion with the government bureaucracy, to strategic reform recommendations have largely sabotaged reform prospects. All these against the backdrop of widespread extortionist capture of politico-governance spaces across the country have unfolded an “our turn” syndrome that presents ominous indications of the resistance capacity in the kleptocratic ecosystem, the report added.

–IANS

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