Suriname must strengthen institutions to protect oil revenues

Suriname faces the critical challenge of strengthening its institutions to protect public funds before significant revenues from the oil and gas sectors begin to flow into the country. During a recent masterclass, Winston Ramautarsing emphasized that preventing corruption requires professional oversight, transparent financial flows, and political independence.

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Suriname scored 38 points in 2025, ranking 96th out of 182 countries. This represents a decline from its 2016 score of 45 points. While an Anti-Corruption Law has been in place since 2017 and an Anti-Corruption Commission was installed in May 2023, the commission currently lacks sufficient specialized investigators, forensic expertise, data analysts, and IT capacity to be fully effective.