BBC Learning English

Words in the News

27th October 2010
Economic crisis increased corruption
The global financial crisis led to a rise in corruption in some richer countries, according to
Transparency International which monitors corruption across the globe. The Berlin-based
organisation has just published its annual report. Marcus George reports.
In the annual report, Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index
outlines some progress on fighting corruption around the world but it was uneven.
Take the South Asia region for example; India fell to number 87 as did Pakistan towards the
bottom of the list, whilst Sri Lanka rose to 91.
There is however no progress across Africa as a whole with consistently the same level of
corruption as last year. Meanwhile, Latin America's profile is helped by Chile and Uruguay
near the top.
No change however for what are perceived as the most corrupt countries: Somalia, Burma and
Afghanistan. Elsewhere the list yields unsurprising results: Iraq ranks lowest in the Middle
East.
And Transparency International concludes that some countries in Europe have become more
corrupt in the past year. Russia has fallen eight to number 154, and the report points out that
corruption has increased significantly in the UK over the last five years.
As for the least corrupt countries, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore come out on top
again.
Launching the report, Transparency International's chairwoman said the vital issue was
enforcement, without which all laws around the world are of little value.

Marcus George, BBC News

Words in the News

British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

transparency

openness, easy to see through

perceptions

opinions, impressions

outlines

generally describes or explains

uneven

not equal

towards

in the direction of

rose

went up

consistently

continuously

yields

gives

come out on top

succeed, are the best

enforcement

making people obey the law

More on this story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11625623

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/10/101027_witn_corruption_page.shtml

Words in the News

British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com