Male’, Maldives — Maldives has been ranked 75th place out of 183 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020.
In the latest CPI 2020 released, Maldives has increased by 14 points taking its total score to 43. Maldives jumped the list by 55 positions from the 130th place in 2019, landing on the 75th rank in the CPI list.
The CPI scores and ranks are given after considering the countries or territories perceived level of public sector corruption. This is drawn through surveys and expert assessments every year. The CPI uses a scale of 0 to 100 to calculate the rate of corruption, where 0 is high highly corrupted and 100 is very clean.
The score for Maldives was drawn from three international sources. They are Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, Varieties of Democracy Project and the World Bank CPIA.
Although Maldives has jumped 55 positions, the island nation still remains among the two-thirds of countries to score below 50 in the CPI.
The data shows that despite Maldives’ progress in strengthening the legal framework, the country is still failing to effectively tackle corruption.
This is why, Transparency Maldives, an anti-corruption NGO of Maldives, recommends the Maldivian government to:
- Strengthen oversight institutions to ensure resources reach those most in need.
- Ensure open and transparent contracting to combat wrongdoing, identify conflicts of interest and ensure fair pricing.
- Defend democracy and promote civic space to create enabling conditions for holding government accountable.
- Publish relevant data and guarantee access to information to ensure the public receives easy, accessible, timely and meaningful information, including on public spending and resource distribution, which are particularly relevant in emergency situations.
Ranking first in the CPI 2020 list are New Zealand and Denmark, both having a score of 88 in the list. After these countries are Finland, Switzerland and Singapore, all three countries ranking third place in the list with a score of 85.
According to the CPI list, the worst corrupted countries are both Somalia and South Sudan with a score of only 12, ranking the last in the list.
