DUSHANBE, January 28, 2015, Asia-Plus — The 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, which is developed by the Heritage Foundation in partnership with
The Wall Street Journal
, Pakistan ranks Tajikistan 140th among 178 countries of the world.
The Heritage Foundation has been tracking and ranking trade freedom around the world since 1995. The rankings have consistently shown a correlation between trade freedom and improved lives.
The latest rankings, reported in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, once again confirm this connection. This report describes why trade is important to people around the world and provides options for advancing free trade.
The index categorizes countries in five groups: free; mostly free; moderately free; mostly unfree; and repressed.
Tajikistan ranks in the second last category (mostly unfree) alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, 97th; Moldova, 111th; Pakistan, 121st; and Russia, 143rd. In all, sixty-two countries have “mostly unfree” economies
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan (69th) and Kyrgyzstan (82nd) rank in the “moderately free” category with the likes of Latvia (37th); Armenia (52nd); Macedonia (53rd); Romania (57th); Azerbaijan (85th); and Serbia, (90th). Fifty-five countries have “moderately free” economies.
Uzbekistan (160th) and Turkmenistan (172nd) were listed among countries with “repressed” economies together with Belarus (153rd); Ukraine (162nd); and Iran (171st). In all, twenty-six countries have “repressed” economies
Thirty have “mostly free” economies. “Mostly free” economies and their rankings, in particular, included Estonia (8th); the United States (12th), the United Kingdom (13th), Lithuania (15th), Germany (16th), Georgia (22nd).
Only five earned the designation as a “free” economy — Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland.
The index evaluates countries in four broad areas of economic freedom: 1) the rule of law; 2) regulatory efficiency; 3) limitations on government; and 4) the openness of markets in each country. Specific categories that examined included property rights, freedom from corruption, fiscal freedom, and government spending. The level of freedom was also measured for business activities, the labor market, monetary policy, trade, investment, and financial transactions.
