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Sri Lanka shows little progress in tackling corruption

Sri Lanka continued to rank poorly in the 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), performing even worse than it did under former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

According to the 2017 index compiled by Transparency International, Sri Lanka ranks 91st with a score of 38.

The score is an improvement of just 2 points from last year, matching the same score as 2016. However it continues to lag behind the 2012 score of 40, when Mahinda Rajapaksa was in power.

The Rajapaksa government, which included several of his family members, stand accused of widespread corruption. Yet, “the limited change in the perception of public sector corruption (CPI) reflects the limited change experienced by people in their everyday encounters with the state," said Transparency International Sri Lanka Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere. "A close analysis of Sri Lanka's positioning in the CPI from 2012 to 2017 shows that despite the institutional strengthening of anti-corruption agencies following the 19th amendment, consistent failure in implementation has led to very limited progress."

The current Sri Lankan government suffered a heavy defeat to Mr Rajapaksa at the recent local government elections.

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