Govts need to tackle global problem of corruption, says IMF

Tokyo

THE cancer of public corruption is eating away at confidence in government and also at global economic growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a hard-hitting report on Wednesday.

Highlighting what it said is a growing problem internationally, it said that "abuse of public office for private gain" is afflicting economies at all stages of development, and that governments need to address increased concerns over corruption, given the recent scandals in many countries.

A recent estimate put the annual cost of bribery at around US$1.5 to US$2 trillion, or roughly 2 per cent of the global gross domestic p…