40% businesses bribe officials even for legitimate work: Gallup

ISLAMABAD: At least 40% of the country's businesses surveyed in a recent Gallup poll have said that they give bribes to government officials to get their legitimate work done.

The survey, which sought responses from more than 400 businesses from different sectors, was published by Gallup in its fourth quarter report of Gallup Pakistan's Business Confidence Index.

When asked by Gallup Pakistan about bribing government officials to do legitimate work, 40% of business owners said they were forced to pay a bribe, while 60% refused to give bribes to get their work done. A sector-wise breakdown of the businesses showed that 56% businessmen in the manufacturing sector said they paid bribes, 40% in the services sector and 39% in the trading sector.

In the provinces, 50% of businessmen from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan said they gave bribes even for legitimate work, while 43% of businesses in Punjab and 31% businesses in Sindh said they paid bribes.