Bangladesh jumps up 14 notches in global bribery risk rankings, yet in 'high' risk
The country’s bribery risk is still “high” for some factors, including a very high expectation of bribes, low quality of anti-bribery enforcement
Bangladesh improved its ranking in a global index that measures business bribery risks, by moving up 14 notches.
The country ranked 153rd in the 2022 Bribery Risk Matrix released by the US-based business association TRACE, which measured business bribery risk in 194 countries.
Last year, it was ranked 167th with an overall score of 65.
However, the country's bribery risk level still remains "high" because of some factors, including a very high expectation of bribes, low quality of anti-bribery enforcement and low degree of media freedom/quality, according to the latest global bribery risk index.
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Released on 15 November, the country's overall score dropped to 64 out of 100 this year. A higher score indicates a higher risk of business bribery.
Bangladesh has managed to improve on Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of business bribery risk in South Asia.
In South Asia, the business bribery risk in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh is "high", while the risk level of other countries in the region was "medium", except for Bhutan.
Bhutan, which has the lowest risk score of 39 in the region, ranked 53rd. It is followed by India (86th), Nepal (94th), the Maldives (101st) and Sri Lanka (113th).
Afghanistan (174th) retained its place in having the highest business bribery risk in the region, with an overall score of 72, followed by Pakistan (158th).
With a score of just four, Norway presents the lowest business bribery risk globally, followed by New Zealand with a score of 8, Sweden (9), Switzerland (10) and Denmark (11).
Meanwhile, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Syria and Venezuela were found to have the highest commercial bribery risk globally.
TRACE said the global index measures four domains: Business Interactions with Government, Anti-Bribery Deterrence and Enforcement, Government and Civil Service Transparency, and Capacity for Civil Society Oversight.
How Bangladesh fared
Bangladesh scored 67 in business interactions with the government, based on a medium degree of government interaction, a very high expectation of bribes, and a medium regulatory burden, stated the report.
The country also scored poorly (65) in the second domain – anti-bribery deterrence and enforcement – reflecting a medium quality of anti-bribery dissuasion and a low quality of anti-bribery enforcement.
Bangladesh's score of 62 in government and civil service transparency, is based on medium governmental transparency and medium transparency of financial interests.
The south Asian nation received a poor score of 60 in capacity for civil society oversight with a low degree of media freedom/quality and also a low degree of civil society engagement.
Bangladesh's bribery risk level is consistently high
Bangladesh has not been able to break the brackets of nations with "high-risk" levels of business bribery since 2014 when the first TRACE Bribery Matrix was released.
The only exception happened in 2016 when Bangladesh was ranked 183rd among 199 countries, becoming a country with a "very high" bribery risk.
