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20th
November, 2006
Haiti, Guinea, Iraq and Myanmar are perceived as having
the highest levels of corruption in the world while Finland,
Iceland and New Zealand are seen as having the lowest levels,
according to Transparency International’s annual corruption
perceptions index.
The index, which scores 163 of the world’s countries
on a scale of zero to ten with a score of ten indicating low
levels of perceived corruption, also shows that Brazil, Cuba,
Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia
and the United States all have a “significant worsening”
in perceived levels of corruption.
Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius,
Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay, meanwhile,
all had a “significant improvement” in corruption
perceptions.
The index found a strong correlation between corruption and
poverty with a concentration of impoverished states at the
bottom of the index.
“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.”
Australia shared the number nine ranking with the Netherlands.
~ www.transparency.org
- DAVID ADAMS
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