OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2013. In the Index of Economic Freedom by Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal, Moldova garnered 55.5 points out of 100 possible, improving its position 1.1 points as compared with 20120. Within the year our country climbed up 9 lines, but, just a s before, it is still listed among unfree economies.

Best results were showed by Moldova in the fiscal freedom (87.2 points), trade freedom (80), monetary freedom (73.4) and business freedom (69.7).

The worst ones were recoded in corruption freedom (29), investment freedom (35), property rights (40) and labour freedom (40.9). Moldova scored 50 points in the financial freedom and 50.1 points in government spending. Top five leaders of 2012 kept their places in 2013: Hong Kong (89.3), Singapore (88), Australia (82.6), New Zealand (81.4) иand Switzerland (81). The index is bottomed by Eritrea (36.3),Venezuela (36,1), Zimbabwe (28.6), Cuba (28.5), Northern Korea (1.5).

The group of mostly free economies is represented by Canada (79.points), Chile (79), Mauritius (76.9), the USA (76). Several former Soviet Republics have been also included there: Estonia (75.3), Georgia (72.2) and Latvia (72.1). Moderately free economies included Armenia (69.4), Lithuania (66.5), Kazakhstan (63), Romania (59th with 65.1 points) and Bulgaria (the 60th ; points). Azerbaijan (59.7), Kyrgyzstan (59), Tajikistan (53.4) Russia (51.1) and Moldova entered the group of mainly unfree economies. The group of unfree economies included Belarus – the 153rd (48), Ukraine -the 161st (46.3), Uzbekistan – the 162nd (46), Turkmenistan– the 169th (42.6. According to the researchers, the global economic freedom index remained also the same within 2012. Its average global value grew 0.1 point to 59.6 in 2013, which, in fact, reflects the economic standstill throughout the world.

Experts explain this fact by large-scale state interference and protectionism overlapped with the global economic recession. According to the experts, the economic freedom is declining globally, whereas populist sentiments are growing and making governments follow the policy of reallocation of incomes and management of economic activity. In 2012 31 states only increased their positions in the index by 1point and more; in 35 countries declines were recorded.

In 2013 the research embraced 185 states, buy only 177 of them were assigned for quantitative characteristics. Researchers failed to assign them for 8 states due to the lack of information.