Antioquia: Best in National ‘Corruption Index’ study
The June 2016 edition of Bitacora Economica (Economic Analysis) from Colombia’s national retail trade association (Fenalco) shows that Antioquia (Medellin’s department) has the best “corruption index” of all Colombia’s departments (states).
On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the “best” and 0 being the “worst,” Antioquia’s corruption index came in at 82.4 – termed as “moderate” and best in all of Colombia, followed by Santander (81.2) and Meta (74.8), according to the Transparencia por Colombia study cited by Fenalco.
The worst states for corruption are Choco (the worst of the worst, at 31.0), followed by Vaupes, Guainia, Caqueta, La Guajira and Putumayo, according to the study.
Cundinamarca (Bogota’s department) came in at a 72 index, termed as “medium risk” corruption in the study. Valle del Cauca (Cali’s department) also ranked as “medium risk” at 74.4.
Colombia’s over-all “index of corruption perception” in 2015 was 37, putting it in the middle of 163 nations studied (at 86th place), whereas Canada (83), the U.S. (76) and Chile (70) had relatively good rankings globally from Transperencia International’s study on “corruption perception,” Fenalco noted.
The study considered three key factors affecting “corruption perception:” institutionality, visibility and sanctions/controls. On a nationwide basis, Colombia still suffers from weak or inefficient systems for producing and publishing public information, scores poorly in providing sufficient public information about regulatory norms and forms, and has relatively poor management of public-sector employees, according to the report.
For example, 21 of Colombia’s 32 departments still fail to publish their annual investment plans on their web-sites, while 23 other departments don’t promptly hand-over their budget plans to the national Controller General for review, the report noted.
