In 2021, according to the Index of Economic Freedoms, Serbia took the 72nd place out of 165 countries, which improved last year’s position by two places, the Lubeck research club of the Fraser Institute announced.
“This small progress from 74th to 72nd place can be attributed to small changes in the area of credit regulation, which is related to the privatization of smaller banks, but not to Komercijalna Banka, whose impact will be assessed in the next edition of the Index of Economic Freedoms,” it is stated in the latest edition of the Index of Economic Freedoms.
The freest and most unfree countries
It is added that Hong Kong and Singapore are again at the top of the Index, followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Georgia, the USA, Ireland, Lithuania, Australia and Denmark.
At the bottom of the index are the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Syria, Republic of Congo, Iran, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Libya, Sudan and Venezuela, and North Korea and Cuba cannot be ranked due to lack of data.
It is pointed out that other important countries occupy the following positions: Japan 18, Germany 22, Italy 47, France 53, Mexico 75, Russia 100, India 108, Brazil 109 and China 116.
According to economic research published in scientific journals, people living in economically freer states are said to have a higher standard of living, more political and civil liberties, and live longer.
What does our position on the table tell us?
According to the Index of Economic Freedoms, Serbia is at the back of Europe when the former members of the USSR are excluded, and only Greece, Northern Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are ranked worse.
As it is stated, Serbia is badly assessed in the area of the rule of law, which is the cornerstone of a market economy, and especially the independence of the judiciary, impartiality in court proceedings, and respect for property rights and execution of contracts due to slow and expensive court procedures.
“In such an economic environment, there are no adequate mechanisms for the protection of private property, which directly leads to a low level of domestic investment, and low rates of economic growth. The low standard of living and the high rate of emigration are a consequence of such an environment,” it is stated in the latest issue of the Index.
It is added that a bad result is evident in the area of business regulation, which in some cases restricts competition and creates rent for interest groups close to the government. A major problem is the application of the law in practice, due to the fact that regulations are often contradictory, unclear or cannot be applied without the missing bylaws.
Another significant problem is the unequal treatment of various economic actors before the law, due to corruption or political pressure, BiF reports.
