Corruption’s price tag

Recently, IMF released its ‘Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Report on Pakistan’. The report admits that Pakistan’s governance indicators rank poorly, reflecting in controlling corruption, enforcing contracts and protecting property rights.

Moreover, in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), released in early 2025, Pakistan’s rank was 135th out of 180 countries, dropping two spots further from 133rd in 2023. These reports by the noted international bodies show how Pakistan is chronically engulfed in this persistent evil. Corruption in Pakistan has weakened the roots of state as efficient public service delivery is being vanished. This evil is persistent in every government as well as private sector institution of this country.

Moreover, the recent IMF report highlights that Pakistan is estimated to lose up to 6.5 percent of its GDP annually due to corruption and “elite capture,” which amounts to approximately $16 billion. This persistent evil has led to hindered economic growth, eroded public trust and poor service delivery. Corruption drains public funds, discourages investment and fuels inflation and poverty. Moreover, politically, it undermines democratic institutions, creates instability and weakens the rule of law by fostering patronage and making public services inefficient. The weakness of anti-corruption and anti-graft watchdogs in Pakistan has contributed more severely to this menace as accountability laws have lost their worth.

This vicious cycle of corruption is dragging the poor further into poverty while the rich are become richer through their misdoings. As Mario Puzo, in his magnum opus God Father wrote, “Behind every great fortune, there is a crime”. The very maxim seems fit to the context of Pakistan as corruption has made great fortune for the leaders, bureaucrats and some unknowns of this pity nation. May Pakistan see the day free from this persistent evil!

ZAIN-UL ABDIN JESSAR

LARKANA