Caretaker govt transparent, says Karimi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Transparency International has declared Afghanistan one of the corrupt countries in 2021, but the caretaker Taliban government insists administrative graft has been curtailed.

Government spokesperson Bilal Karimi said the incumbent government, established five months ago, was fully transparent and nobody would be allowed to engage in illegal things such as corruption, embezzlement, and bribery.

“According to our judgment, Afghanistan’s caretaker government is one of the transparent administrations,” the spokesman reiterated.

Afghanistan has dropped eight spots in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021, says the latest report from Transparency International.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.

The results are measured on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Afghanistan, which received a score of 65 last year compared to 73 in 2020, was ranked 165th out of 180 countries.

nh/mud