Corruption threatens good governance, sustainable development, democratic process, and fair business practices. In case of Pakistan, this statement by OECD stands true.
In countries like Pakistan, subsequent military dictatorships not only destroyed the institutions, but also caused severe damage to the spirit of democratic process, fair business practices, and spread of the culture of good corporate governance. All that affected the institutional development of the country.
Transparency International (TI) in its recently completed survey suggests that in the last three years, corruption in Pakistan has increased by 400 percent. A press release issued by TI Pakistan on June 17th, 2009 indicates that:
“The overall Corruption in 2002 has increased from Rs 45 Billion to Rs 195 Billion in 2009. Police and Power maintained their ranking as the top two most corrupt sectors.”
Interestingly, in view of most respondents three main reasons of corruption are: “lack of accountability, lack of transparency and discretionary powers.”
The News, a major national daily, highlighted recently that a World Bank report issued in March 2009 defines corruption as a serious and growing obstacle to the investment climate in Pakistan. The report also expressed dissatisfaction over the issue of governance in the country.
The above was substantiated by the State Bank of Pakistan’s report on Foreign Direct Investment issued in June 2009 which says that:
“Net foreign investment in Pakistan fell 47.5 per cent to $2.22 billion in the first 11 months of the 2008/09 fiscal year compared with $4.23 billion in the same period last year.”
Published Date: July 13, 2009