(For the full report, check the Internet link: www.transparency.org/cpi/2004/cpi2004.en.html)

Transparency International?s CPI released today placed Belize in line with Colombia, and Belize?s index slipped from 4.5 in 2003 to 3.8 in 2004. It was ranked 45thamong 133 countries last year, compared with 60thamong 146 countries this year.

According to CNN, TI, a group based in Berlin, has released the corruption index annually since 1995. The index, CNN said, reflects perceived levels of corruption among politicians and public offices, drawing on responses from businesspeople, risk analysts and academics.

According to TI?s index, the three countries that are perceived as the most corrupt are Haiti (1.5), Bangladesh (1.5), and Nigeria (1.6). Finland (9.7) and then New Zealand (9.6) were perceived as the least corrupt, according to the index.

The scale of the index is ?0? to ?10,? with 10 representing a perception of ?clean? and 0 representing a perception of ?highly corrupt.? A total of 106 of 146 countries, or 73% of the countries, scored less than 5, said the TI report.

It added: ?Sixty countries score less than 3 out of 10, indicating rampant corruption. Corruption is perceived to be most acute in Bangladesh, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Paraguay, all of which have a score of less than 2.?

On a positive note, Belize, with a CPI of 3.8, is not perceived to be among those countries where corruption is ?rampant? or ?acute.?

TI said that, to arrive at Belize?s CPI, it surveyed three London-based agencies: the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Merchant International Group (MIG), and World Markets Research Centre (WMRC). At least three sources are required for a country to be listed on the index, it explained.

Among the 18 sources used to rank the 146 countries, the three sources used for Belize cover the most countries: the EIU covers 142 countries; the MIG covers 155, and the WMRC covers 186.

The EIU?s Country Risk Service and Country Forecast and its expert staff were surveyed on the subject of ?the misuse of public office for private (or political) gain;? the MIG was surveyed on ?corruption ranging from bribery of government ministers to inducements payable to the ?humblest clerk;?? and the WMRC was surveyed on ?the likelihood of encountering corrupt officials, ranging from party bureaucratic corruption to grand political corruption.?

Countries in our region that ranked lower, or are viewed as more corrupt than Belize, include Guatemala and Mexico. Those who ranked higher, or are seemingly less corrupt than Belize, include Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador.

Transparency International describes itself as ?the only international non-governmental organization devoted to combating corruption.? Among those it lists as its donors are the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department for International Development in the UK (DfID), the EU, the World Bank, the Ford Foundation (USA), Shell (UK), KPMG (The Netherlands), Lufthansa, General Electric Co., and Texaco Foundation.

We hope to have a comment from the Prime Minister on the Transparency International listing sometime in the near future.