Trinidad and Tobago has placed number 79 in the 2009 Transparency International (TI) Global Corruption Index of 180 nations with an overall score of 3.6 in the index of 10.And it is at number 16 in the regional index of 31 nations of the Americas, which includes Canada and the United States.
Canada leads the regional group with a score of 8.7 with the United States second at 7.5. Barbados is third with a score of 7.4.
Others that score better than Trinidad and Tobago include St Lucia, St Vincent, Cuba and Suriname.
Jamaica, Guyana and Venezuela are below Trinidad and Tobago with Haiti coming in last at number 31 with a score of 1.8.
Transpranecy International said only 10 of the 31 countries scored above five and nine countries failed to reach above 3, which it says indicates the perception of rampant corruption.
"Throughout Latin America...weak institutions, poor governance practices and the excessive influence of private interests continue to undermine best efforts to promote equitable and sustained development," the report said.
It noted that although each country has its own peculiar context "the effects of the financial crisis and the subsequent economic downturn have highlighted the crucial importance of governnance in the porivate and public sectors and in relationships between the two."
It added that this is compounded by stimulus packages "which are already pumping large amounts of money into badly affected economies...states...will have to respond by ensuring that these public funds are handled with integrity."
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