Pandemic deepens graft, democracy breaches, says Transparency International

"Countries with higher levels of corruption tend to be the worst perpetrators of democratic and rule-of-law breaches while managing the Covid-19 crisis," according to the report

With populations under lockdown and governments wielding greater emergency powers, the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated already alarming levels of graft and democratic violations worldwide, Transparency International said.
 

Bribery for virus tests and the procurement of medical supplies to are allowing ruling elites to skim taxpayer funds, according to a report from the global corruption watchdog published Thursday. Transparent budget spending is also particularly difficult to enforce during a pandemic, it said.
 

"Covid-19 isn’t just a health and economic crisis," Delia Ferreira Rubio, Transparency’s head, said in the watchdog’s 2020 ranking of countries from cleanest to most corrupt. "It’s a corruption