Islamabad [Pakistan], January 25 (ANI): Corruption has increased in Pakistan, which ranked 140 out of 180 countries, losing 16 spots over the last year, on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 by Transparency International, reported The News International.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

The opposition leaders in Pakistan slammed the Imran Khan government over the report.

In his statement, President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif said that Transparency International testified for the second time that Imran Khan's government is corrupt, reported the newspaper.

"The report of the international organization is an indictment of the PTI government," the PML-N leader said.

Sharif demanded that the country's "corrupt rulers" quit since the country could no longer afford their plunder.

Last year the country's score was 31. It dropped by three points to 28 on the global corruption index.

Transparency International Pakistan Vice-Chair Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal has attributed this increase in corruption to the absence of law in Pakistan.

He said, "The absence of rule of law and state capture has resulted in substantial low CPI 2021 score of Pakistan compared to CPI 2020, from 31/100 to 28/100 and rank from 124/180 to 140/180, whereas there is no change in CPI 2021 Scores of India and Bangladesh from CPI 2020."Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International said: "Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Ensuring people can speak freely and work collectively to hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society.", reported the newspaper. (ANI)