In what does come as a bit of unpleasantness, the Gulf sustained falls in their rankings in the recently-released 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The development partly reflects the inclusion of more countries in the index, but also highlights concerns about transparency of public expenditures.

Berlin-based Transparency International issues the annual report, which reviews economies and assign points on the basis of perceptions expressed by business and academic professionals concerning ways of doing business. The respondents, including locals and expatriates, provide views about perceived corrupt practices involving public officials when competing and winning in areas such as contracts.

Among Gulf states, the UAE leads by clinching the 24th spot worldwide, a single notch behind its 2015 performance. Interestingly, this translates into the UAE staying ahead of several EU members on the transparency index.

Qatar saw its ranking plunging by nine positions to 31. Its loss relates to a emergence of fresh questions about the circumstances for winning the right to stage World Cup 2022.

Of all GCC and Arab nations, only the UAE and Qatar managed to score more than 50 points on the 100-point index. The UAE collected 66 points and Qatar followed with 61 points, suffering a loss of 10 points. The global average stood at 43 points.

At 62nd, Saudi Arabia’s ranking is the third best among GCC states but fourth within the Arab World with Jordan in third spot. Ostensibly, the war in Yemen has undermined the kingdom’s position due to secrecy relating to expenses and others details of the conflict.

Yet, Saudi Arabia’s ranking is likely to enhance with the steady implementation of economic reform programmes including details of revenues, subsidies and fees for public services. Also, Saudi officials appreciate the need for ensuring financial disclosures in their attempt to reach to investors in international markets. Last year, the kingdom raised $17.5 billion worth of Eurobonds and plans are underway for a new issuance to help finance budgetary shortage.

Oman experienced a slide of 4 notches, thereby ranked 64th. The report has lowered Bahrain’s ranking by 20 notches, the worst for any GCC member state. At least one reason for the fall is connected to the fact that most of newly-included countries in the report were getting results better than Bahrain’s.

Kuwait has emerged as the worst performer among GCC member-countries, its ranking dropping by 15 positions to 75th. Oman used to be the worst performer — but not anymore.

Certain matters contributed to lower rankings. These include absence of an independent civil society. Certainly, an active civil society is essential for monitoring behaviour of public institutions. Involvement in some regional conflicts added to the secrecy of public expenditures. The CPI cares about transparency of public spending above all else.

GCC countries need to overcome the transparency challenge by legislating laws like the right of access to information and giving protection to whistle-blowers of corrupt practices.

This is vital in the age of globalisation as countries make efforts to strengthen their competitive positions via measures like enhanced transparency of public expenditures. Some 200 economies seek to entice foreign investments this way.

The writer is a Member of Parliament in Bahrain.