An anti-graft agency says Bangladesh and the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are among the world's most corrupt nations.
Bangladesh and Haiti were ranked the worst of 146 countries studied in Transparency International's annual corruption index for 2004.
The Berlin-based group said 60 countries, including all South Asian and Central Asian nations studied, scored less than three out of a possible 10, indicating rampant corruption. Bangladesh had a world-worst score of 1.5. India and Nepal ranked 90th worldwide, with a score of 2.8 each. Uzbekistan scored 2.3, while Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan scored 2.2. Pakistan scored 2.1.
Transparency International says graft hurts education and healthcare programs, and furthers poverty. The group says predominantly rich countries generally appear to have less corruption.