Page 12 - IRANRptFeb19

Iran drops eight places to 138th in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Indexd
ahead with plans to remove subsidies which it noted were “fiscally ruinous”. It also criticised price controls which it saw as detrimental to the overall economy.
In a commentary of Iran as regards open markets, Heritage concluded: “The combined value of exports and imports is equal to 46.1 percent of GDP. The average applied tariff rate is 15.2 percent. Iran’s intrusive state continues to hold back more broadly based economic development, undermining trade and investment flows. Stringent government controls limit access to financing for businesses. State-owned commercial banks and specialized financial institutions account for a majority of banking-sector assets.”
Iran has dropped eight places to rank 138th of 180 assessed countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2018 (CPI) released on January 29. Its score worsened to 28 points from 30 points in last year’s survey, giving it the same position as Guinea, Lebanon, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and Russia. Immediately behind this group of countries are nations including Comoros, Guatemala and Kenya (all on 27 points) while immediately ahead are countries including Paraguay, Myanmar, Laos and Kyrgyzstan (all on 29 points).
The index ranks countries and territories by perceived levels of public sector corruption as relayed by experts and businesspeople. It uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Denmark took first place with 88 points.
Iran—like Turkey home to around 81mn people—has seen its reform efforts complicated by the fact that it has come under a sustained sanctions-led economic attack from the US. A big concern for Iran presently is fighting profiteers and speculators seeking to exploit criminal opportunities presented by the market turmoil generated by the Trump administration sanctions regime. Seeking to curb public anger over such crimes, Iran has even set up special courts to deal with such offenders.
12 IRAN Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com