The FINANCIAL — Georgia is at the 7th position among 162 countries in the Index of Economic Freedom 2018 – the information was announced at the presentation initiated by the New Economic School – Georgia. The Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ekaterine Mikabadze attended the event.
Annual summarizing ranking – the Index of Economic Freedom is prepared by the Canadian Fraser Institute in cooperation with independent economic researchers and educational institutions from over 100 countries worldwide. The New Economic School – Georgia is one of the leading and influential members of the Network of Institutes of World Liberty that initiated and coordinated the participation of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the studies.
The 2018 Index is prepared by James Worthy (Florida State University), Robert A. Lawuson (South Methodist University) and Joshua Helen (West Virginia University). The ranking is based on data since 2016 and measures the level of economic freedom (freedom of choice, market openness, property protection, rule of law, etc.) and analysis of policies and institutions in 162 countries.
Ekaterine Mikabadze finds that Georgia’s advanced position in the Index of Economic Freedom is an important message for investors and the international community indicated the quality of economic freedom in the country.
According to Mikabadze, Georgia’s changing position from the seventh to the ninth is the reflection of the reforms that are being held in Georgia today. “These reforms will continue and reflect the ratings of the following years. In this respect, I will highlight one of the main components of the Index which is the size of the government, in which we will obviously see improvement next year, one of the initiatives of our Government is the reduction of the size of the Government,” – the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development noted.
According to the specified data, in 2016 Georgia shared 7-9 positions with the Republic of Australia and the Republic of Mauritius, while in 2017 the country hold the 9th position.
2018 Index of Economic Freedom ranks the countries as follows: 1. Hong Kong; 2. Singapore; New Zealand; 4. Switzerland; Ireland; 6. US; 7. Georgia; 8. Republic of Mauritius; 9. United Kingdom; 10. Australia.
As it was noted at the presentation, the survey according to which the Fraser Institute’s annual summary of the Index of Economic Freedom is the largest ranking survey which evaluates countries according to the five key areas: government size; property protection and court; sustainable monetary policy; freedom of international trade; regulations for credits, employment and business.
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