Bosnia and Herzegovina and Morocco were ranked 92nd out of 162 countries and territories in the world covered by this year's Economic Freedom of the World report, published by the Canadian Fraser Institute.
Bosnia maintained the same position as last year, but the difference was that it shared it with Liberia.
“Bosnia is failing to implement reforms that would guarantee more economic freedom to the citizens. While Croatia and Serbia have increased their economic freedom since 2010, Bosnia's level stays unimproved. The main shortcoming in economic freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is reflected in its weak rule of law, which is a common problem in all former centrally planned economies in the region. However, Bosnia is performing the worst on this measurement among all former Yugoslav republics. In consequence, Bosnia's failure to strengthen the rule of law has a negative impact on its economic growth, foreign direct investments, and employment rate,” explains Tanja Porcnik, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.
Admir Cavalic, the director of Multi Association from Tuzla, said Bosnia scored the worst in the area of rule of law, state size and regulation.
Hong Kong and Singapore again top the index, continue their streak as 1st and 2nd respectively. New Zealand, Switzerland, United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Mauritius round out the top 10.
The 10 lowest-rated countries are: Iraq, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Algeria, Sudan, Libya, and lastly Venezuela. Some despotic countries such as North Korea and Cuba can’t be ranked due to lack of data.
The Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom. This year’s publication ranks 162 countries and territories. It’s based on data from 2017 (the most recent year of available comparable data) and measures the economic freedom (levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security of privately-owned property, rule of law, etc.).
