KUALA LUMPUR: Anti-corruption non-governmental organisations should look at other factors and reports before ranking a country's corruption.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said he disagreed with the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), despite Malaysia's rank improving from 61 in 2022 to 57 last year.
"I personally disagree with the CPI because it is based on perception. If you don't like someone, then you will perceive them negatively. For example, in the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI), our neighbour Singapore is among the top 10 countries involved in money laundering. We are among the lowest.
"The CPI should also look into these other scores because money laundering is connected with corrupt activities," he said.
The FSI is a biennial index by pressure group Tax Justice Network, which scores each country's financial and legal system on allowing individuals to hide money.
The index identifies the world's biggest suppliers of financial secrecy and highlights laws that governments could change to reduce their contribution to financial secrecy.
Tax Justice Network said a higher rank on the index did not necessarily mean that a country was more secretive, but that it played a bigger role in enabling wealthy individuals and criminals to hide and launder money extracted from around the world.
In 2022, the United States topped the list, while Singapore was third. Malaysia ranked 39th.
Azam said the improvement in the country's CPI ranking proved that the government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was committed to fighting corruption.
"This is all due to political will. This commitment is also reflected through the effective enforcement that we have done."
In an effort to enhance Malaysia's index, Azam said the cabinet had agreed to MACC's suggestion to form a special task force on the CPI to propose strategies to improve the country's ranking.