WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Corruption costs the world economy around $2.6 trillion annually, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a speech to Oxford Union in London on Wednesday.
"Corruption costs the global economy about 2.6 trillion per year," Kerry stated.
Kerry further noted that corrupt governance in Ukraine triggered an international crisis, and said that failing to fight back against organized crime and nepotism generally invalidates government credibility.
The United States has more than doubled its foreign assistance for anti-corruption programs in the last four years, according to the US State Department.
Kerry’s speech comes as he heads a US delegation to the Anti-Corruption Summit in London headed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and attended by leaders from Afghanistan, Colombia and Nigeria, as well as other nations.
