OREANDA-NEWS. January 14, 2011. Moldova is among the countries that improved their economic freedom scores, going up from the 125th position to the 120th in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom released by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. It covers 183 countries.

Moldova's economic freedom score is 55.7, up by two points since last year. The country improved its position in six of the ten components of economic freedom. The situation in business and labour freedom worsened. The scores stagnated in two other fields.

According to the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, Moldova's economy still suffers from "lack of freedom" to a large extent. The country ranks 40th among 43 European countries and its overall score is below the regional (66.8 points) and world averages (59.7 points).

The experts of the Heritage Foundation pointed out the high level of trade and fiscal freedom in Moldova. "In recent years, the government has implemented measures to improve regulatory transparency and the overall entrepreneurial environment. Recent tax reforms have made the tax regime quite competitive," Heritage and the Wall Street Journal said.

Nonetheless, they noted: "The growth potential remains constrained by the state's intervention in the private sector. Thus, the economy is vulnerable to changes in the political environment. "There is a high level of corruption in most fields of the Moldovan bureaucracy."

The index uses a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is the maximum freedom. The lower the level of the government's involvement, the freer the economy and the higher the score. Moldova scores very well in trade freedom (80.2 per cent) and fiscal freedom (85.6 per cent), as well as in monetary freedom (77 per cent). A percentage exceeding the average figure is recoded in business freedom (69.5 per cent). Moldova's scores in freedom from corruption (33 per cent), property rights (40 per cent) and labour freedom are below the average figures.

The leaders of the Index of Economic Freedom are Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zeeland, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland, Denmark and the USA.

Among the former Soviet republics and now independent states Estonia holds the highest position, 14th, Lithuania 24th, Georgia 29th and Armenia 36th. The Russian Federation ranks 143rd, while Ukraine 164th.

Moldova saw spectacular development in 2002-2004, when it advanced from the 120th position to the 105th in 2002. In 2003, Moldova ranked 92nd and in 2004 it advanced by 13 positions. In 2005, Moldova ranked 77th and in 2006 - 83rd. The lowest index of economic freedom (4.10 points) was recorded in 1995, when Moldova's economy was viewed as repressed.