Malaysia tanked in a global corruption ranking. Poor results from the wider Asia suggest the region is failing at tackling profligacy.
Scandal-hit Malaysia slipped seven spots to 62nd place on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, released on Thursday. The Asian nation is at the center of a billion-dollar graft scandal into its sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB, which has sparked a six-nation probe led by the U.S. and including Swiss and Singaporean officials.
Malaysia, where the 1MDB scandal has largely been kept under wraps, scored just 47 on a 100-point scale (zero indicates deep-rooted systemic corruption, while 100 means a very clean nation).
1MDB Shadow
Wider Asia fared even worse than Malaysia on average, though Singapore maintained its place among the top-ten. Of the major Asian economies, India and Indonesia both slipped, while Vietnam advanced six ranks.
«Our analysis reveals little progress across the region. In the last six years, only a few countries have experienced small, incremental changes indicating signs of improvement,» Transparency International, a pressure group, said in a statement.
Singapore edged into sixth place from seventh, despite the 1MDB damage which cost two banks their licenses and led to numerous banker bans. The city-state was pipped by Switzerland, which ranked fifth in the ranking. Hong Kong came in 13th, advancing two spots to tie with Australia. New Zealand ranked in first place for the second year in a row.
