Eradication of corruption improves service delivery: NAB Chairman

NAB’s chief says Pakistan’s ranking improves by four points in corruption perception index

Pakistan’s ranking in the corruption perception index has improved by four points from last year, with the eradication of graft helping improve service delivery.

This was stated by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry during a meeting with World Economic Forum representative and Mishal CEO Amir Jehangir, a statement issued on Thursday read.

Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s ranking had improved from 126 to 122 in the corruption perception index for 2016 17, per the Annual Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum 2016-17.

The NAB chief said that the country’s anti-corruption policies had been yielding better results and its ranking has improved for three straight years. This, he said, was the result of their efforts to uproot corruption from the society.  “As a result of these, the position is improving,” he remarked.

Chaudhry added that the Global Competitiveness Index of World Economic Forum would help improve Pakistan’s image among the nations.  Corruption, the NAB chief said, affects the common man and the general public are the ‘worst sufferers’ when funds meant for their welfare are misappropriated.

“So, the improvement in Pakistan’s ranking will ultimately benefit the common man as funds meant for their welfare and well-being will be utilised for providing basic facilities such as health, education and clean drinking water to them,” he said.

Moreover, Chaudhry said that the improvement in the competitiveness report would also reflect in the corruption perception index of the Transparency International.

Jehangir said that an important aspect of the competitiveness report was that institutions, which had undertaken reforms and communicated well with stakeholders, had shown great improvements.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2017.