AKIPRESS.COM - A new anticorruption body is expected to start work this week, the president’s office said, in a bid to respond to longstanding complaints from foreign donors about fraud ahead of vital fund-raising conferences this year.

The U.S., European Union and other donors have cited corruption as the greatest threat to efforts to rebuild the country, and the government risks cuts in funding because of it. Afghanistan still relies on donors for most of its income. The U.S. alone has spent more than $113 billion on reconstruction since 2001, WSJ reported.

President Ashraf Ghani took office on a pledge to fight corruption, but it is widely seen to have worsened during his first year in office. Transparency International downgraded Afghanistan on its corruption index in 2015, ranking it third from the bottom, ahead of Somalia and North Korea.

The new Anti-Corruption Council will lead the fight against corruption and the president will chair meetings himself, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The role of the council—which includes two vice presidents, presidential advisers and various oversight bodies—will be to coordinate among them and to draw up a national anticorruption policy.

“There were always gaps in the system,” the president’s office said. “The role of the council will be to coordinate the various agencies and ensure there is a political will, authority and safeguards to do so.”

The move comes at a pivotal time for Mr. Ghani and those who fund his government. In July, world leaders will review military spending in Afghanistan at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Warsaw. And in October, donors will meet at the Brussels Conference in Afghanistan to decide on future levels of development aid for years to come.

The president’s office says progress has been made fighting corruption. It cites new procurement processes that it says saved the country hundreds of millions of dollars, and increased tax and revenue collection, as examples.