Bangladesh remains one of the most corrupt countries in South Asia, as it was ranked as the 12th most corrupted country among the 180 countries scored in the Global Corruption Perception Index 2022 of Transparency International, just 3 points above Afghanistan.

Declining one point from the previous year 2021 Bangladesh's score is 25 out of 100 this year, which means corruption increased during the last year, disclosed Dr Iftekharruzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh.

For the last decade, scores have remained almost stagnant for Bangladesh. In the 2021 CPI index, Bangladesh also ranked 147th, whereas it ranked 146th in the 2020 index.

Responding to a question from reporters, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharruzzaman said, "A portion of people from the ruling party or the government always deny, deny the validity of the corruption index or such findings. However, that does not mean they represent the entire government or people of the country. As the media gives them more coverage, it may sometimes appear like they represent the whole.

"We believe that the government always find TIB's reports to be useful and we believe they will try to do the needful."

Addressing recent corruption in the banking sector and mentioning one of the private bank anomalies the TIB executive director said that some people have been deployed at the watchdog organisations who are supposed to be the saviours but they facilitate the corruption instead.

The Corruption Perception Index 2022 reports, "Countries with low scores are still unable to make significant progress. In many parts of the Americas, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, restrictions and attacks on civic space and basic freedoms continue amidst multiple crises threatening security and stability, democracy and human rights."

Similarly, in parts of Asia Pacific, increasing authoritarianism curtails dissenting voices and undermines civil society's function as a watchdog, it adds.

Transparency International prepares the CPI report annually on 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The global average score is 43.