Economy freedom improvement in 2005

The Romanian economy saw its freedom improve, but it still remains included in the “mostly unfree” category, ranking behind countries like Moldova, Namibia and Cambodia, a study by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal reveals. According to this document, Romania ranks 92nd out of 157 countries considered. The chart is based on scores from 1 to 5, where 1 is the highest economic freedom score, assigned for 10 criteria. Depending on their grades, the countries analysed are divided into four categories: “free”, “mostly free”, “mostly unfree” and “repressed.” The criteria taken into account include trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign investment, banking and finance and property rights. Romania got an overall score of 3.19 for 2006, down 0.39 points from the previous year. This score turns Romania into the world”s most improved country, after Pakistan, whose score fell 0.4%. ZF