Bureau Report
LAHORE: Almost one year after the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, the deep economic recession has triggered around the world, shaking huge economies by bringing some profound economic and social consequences.
The current Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) reflects that no nation has emerged unscathed during 2020-2021, showing countries with advanced digital economies, skills, digital technologies, robust social safety nets and additionally, special experience in their credit for coping with epidemics have better managed the impact of the corona pandemic on their economies and citizens.
Seeing in a broad spectrum, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), the economy of Pakistan is the 22nd largest in the world, while 42nd largest in terms of nominal gross domestic product. Experts and academics have spent a lot of time in calculating and analysing research based data to better understand the relationship between the ratio of corruption and economic growth indicators.
Most of them had termed corruption as the misuse of public office to count benefits for one’s personal or private gains, and after even years of research it finds that corruption hinders the development of any country or specific body. Like other countries Pakistan is also facing a serious issue of the menace of corruption.
It is obvious that good governance always flourish in a corruption free situation. Pakistan, during the last regimes of Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) had unfortunately been way down on the ladder on this account.
Corruption has penetrated in all segments and formation of society including public, private, judicial, political, commercial and even religions has been indulged in all kinds of this menace including mega, moderate and petty permeates. During the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government the awareness of political corruption and money laundering in the general public and emergence of a strong civil society has been witnessed. Under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, Pakistan had established a bureau to hold transparent accountability namely National Accountability Bureau ( NAB), a focal institution of the country. NAB under clause 33-C of National Accountability Ordinance (NAO)-1999 has constituted an impressive strategy of awareness and prevention to educate people about the ill-effects of corruption, which is known globally as the mother of all evils.
