France has banned the use of banks in the countries on the list, from helping in distributing development funds, international news agencies reported on Monday.
According to the reports, aides to France’s Development Minister, Pascal Canfin, were unable to say how much French foreign aid is currently processed via banks in the countries featured on the new blacklist.
The blacklist expands on an already established register of eight “non- cooperative states and territories” that includes Botswana, Brunei, Nauru, Guatemala and the Phillipines.
The French officials justified the move by saying there was a lack of transparency in the nations on the list, adding that poor and developing countries were often the main victims of fraud.
“The aim is primarily preventative, to put pressure on these countries by publicizing this list to progress towards more transparency,” they said.
The Phillipines has responded to the report and asked for more information regarding the reasons for listing.
And according to Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2012, Trinidad and Tobago is ranked 80 out of 176.
On a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being a corruption-free society and zero a corrupt society, Trinidad and Tobago scored 39.
