Moldova ranks 117th on global economic freedom index

16:35 | 01.02.2016 Category: Economic

Chisinau, 1 February /MOLDPRES/-Moldova ranks 117th out of 178 countries on the Index of Economic Freedom worked out by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal. The ranking assesses national economies’ degree of openness.

According to ”Index of Economic Freedom 2016” report launched today, Moldova has dropped six positions, following its one-position decrease on the ranking in 2015, despite its powerful rise in 2012-2014.

The authors of the study say the Moldovan economy “mostly lacks freedom” and scores 57.4 points out of 100. The government’s commitment to improve the business environment and promote economic freedom was not always firm. The public sector continues to play a dominant role in the economy, while the judiciary system is further vulnerable to political interference and corruption.

However, the index shows that Moldova improved its investment freedom, control over governmental spending and fiscal freedom. On the other hand, it regressed in the fields of monetary freedom, labour, trade and business.

Moldova ranks 40th of 44 European states, with a total score below the regional (66.9 points) and global (60.7 points) average. “Half of the world’s 20 freest countries are from Europe, while most of the economies in the region are considered to be at least “moderately free”. Europe has also five countries “mostly lacking freedom” (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Greece and Russia), along with two “repressive” economies (Ukraine and Belarus)," the authors of the study say.

The study assesses economic freedom in ten fields, ranking countries based on the freedom degree of their business, trade, fiscal freedom, freedom from government interference, monetary, investment, financial and labour market freedom. Countries are also ranked by the observance of property rights and lack of corruption. The higher the index and the smaller the state interference are, the freer is the country.

Just like in 2015, the first places in this ranking are occupied by countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor L. Alcaza)

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