'Nepal defence sector at high risk of corruption'

Transparency International in its latest report has classified Nepal as one of the countries whose defence sector is at high risk of corruption.

Distribution of countries in the index. (Source: TI)

The first-ever survey of graft risk in the defence sphere, conducted by Transparency International UK (TI-UK), classified surveyed countries into eight categories (from Band A to F).

It has placed Nepal in the 'high risk' band D+ category, taking into account the accountability of defence officials and the armed forces and transparency in their expenditure.

The countries placed in B and A considered to have low levels of corruption while countries classified in D, E and F are at critical risk of corruption. Of a total 82 countries surveyed, 60 percent of them were placed in D, including India, China, Mexico, Nepal, Serbia, Singapore, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. According to the survey, most countries in D do not audit defence budgets.

According to the report, the US, the United Kingdom, Sweden and South Korea were among countries judged to be at low risk. Nepalnews.com