Where is Pakistan in Corruption in the World?

Perhaps the title itself can convey a lot about what is to follow and more than that, some of our readers may already be either giggling sheepishly or turning red in anger because they were reminded of this government's achievements.

Lets cut to the chase and get to the point that Pakistan has actually broken all previous set records in its history of 65 years, when it comes to corruption. However, it is public knowledge to an extent that even a small kid has a few names to give to our President in honour for the record President and his accomplices have set in the field of corruption and embezzling public money. But it may not be public knowledge to many of them, like us, the real figures to put into perspective the level of monetary -menace this present government have caused to us and our country.

An independent body on corruption, Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has claimed that Pakistan has been set back by a whopping figure of Rs 8,500 billion in the last four-years of this government. To give you an idea how big is this amount, let us show you in figures on what we are on all about : Rs 8,500,000,000,000. At the prevailing conversion rates, this amount equates to nearly 94 billion USD. The amount of loss this government has caused are so staggering to note that according to some studies, it even dwarfs the loss Pakistan has incurred in this decade-long War in the region.

To be fair to this government (sarcastically speaking), it is not right to attribute the whole of Rs 8.5 trillion to corruption only because it also takes into account lawlessness, tax evasion and bad governance. Pakistan was never a corruption-free country, if we are honest, but the rampant fiddling of public money has taken Pakistan to new levels in world ranking where it has never reached. The rate at which this government has progressed in the field of corruption is baffling to say the least, as the cumulative figure of Rs 8,500 billion is a sum of various numbers that stack up to the claim of TIP. In 2008 the figure was Rs390 billion, and then Rs450 billion in 2009, Rs825 billion in 2010 and Rs1,100 billion in 2011. In addition to this, below is a rough break-up by TIP on the subject:

1. Federal Board of Revenue confirms corruption of Rs 500 billion each year, which amounts to Rs 2000 billion in 4 years time.
2. State-run enterprises are furthering the loss by Rs 150-300 billion each year.
3. KESC has been receiving illicit benefits from the government each year of about Rs 55 billion.
4. Other different watchdogs in Pakistan have estimated the figures they have recovered or found are well in excess of Rs 400 billion and that too in one calendar year.

In global ranking of Corruption Perceptions Index, Pakistan is ranked as low as 134^th out of the 182 listed countries, way behind arch-rivals India (95^th) and embarrassingly, lower than Zambia (91^st), Swaziland (95^th) and Bangladesh (120^th), which are effectively more impoverished and backward countries compared to what Pakistan was or could have been, to put it that way.

The swindling of our money has breached every possible record that there could have been in Pakistan and it brings us back to that dread speech the President made on 27^th December 2011, when he said the present government has completed its 80% of the manifesto. It does beg a question, what more is left to be taken away from this country now, Mr. President?

This post was initially published by Saif's Den with Journalist Pakistan on 10 Feburary, 2012