ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is among 22 countries, which include Lebanon, Malawi and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that decreased their scores on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2020, the watchdog said in its latest report.

Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International’s flagship research product, has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index offers an annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries and territories from all over the globe.

“Like previous years, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s CPI, with an average score of just 43,” the report said. 

Pakistan’s country score was 30, and it ranked 124 out of 180 nations. Last year, it’s country score was 32 and it ranked 120. 

Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan rose to victory in a general election in 2018 campaigning hard on populist promises of a prosperous Pakistan that would break away from its persistent legacy of corruption. As prime minister, Khan has said he will partially model his promised anti-corruption campaign and poverty reduction program on China, Pakistan’s traditional ally that has financed billions of dollars of infrastructure projects.