Washington -- Six of the 10 countries that improved most in terms of economic freedom in 2005 are located in the Caucasus-Central Asia region, according to the 12th annual Index of Economic Freedom, which was released January 4 by the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research organization based in Washington. The 2006 index rates 157 countries, categorizing 20 countries as “free,” 52 countries as “mostly free,” 73 countries as “mostly unfree” and 12 countries as “repressed.” The index looks at 50 independent variables divided into 10 broad measures of economic freedom: trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign investment, banking and finance, wages and prices, property rights, regulation and informal (or black) market activity. The authors of the study generally examined data from the second half of 2004 through the first half of 2005 to come up with the rankings. “The countries with the most economic freedom also have higher rates of long-term economic growth and are more prosperous than are those with less economic freedom,” the report says. In 2005, according to a Heritage Foundation press release, 99 countries improved their overall scores, compared to 51 whose scores worsened and five that remained unchanged. Of the countries that once formed the Soviet Union, Estonia now is ranked the freest at number seven (two spots ahead of the United States, which tied for ninth place). Turkmenistan and Belarus ranked in the least free category, at 148th and 151st, respectively, out of the 157 ranked countries. Turkmenistan ranked among the 10 most improved countries, however, along with the Kyrgyz Republic, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan improved from the ranks of "repressed" economies to join the category "mostly unfree." Georgia attained the ranks of the "mostly free" for the first time, while Armenia now ranks among the 30 freest economies. Belarus remains the least free country in the region. “Declines in its fiscal burden and informal market scores led to its return to the ranks of ‘repressed’ economies,” the report says. “Belarus has made little progress on economic reform and market liberalization, and its overall economy is impeded by Soviet-era anti-market policies.” Additional information on the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom is available on the Heritage Foundation Web site. |
