Economic Freedom 2008 - Kyrgyzstan is in Top 70

The 14th annual Index of Economic Freedom prepared by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal was publicized on the 14th January. 162 countries took part and the economic freedom of each country was measured by 10 indicators such as free trade, business and investment opportunity, and private property.

Kyrgyzstan was the 70th in the list. It was ahead of its neighbors Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It showed even better results than Poland and Turkey. All countries and their ratings were shown on one map and one can see that Kyrgyzstan has taken place somewhere in the middle.

So, according to the Heritage Foundation, Kyrgyzstan’s freedom equals to 61,1%. Here is the percentage for each indicator: Business opportunity - 60.4%, Free trade - 81.4% , Fiscal freedom - 93.9%, Freedom from state- 76.1%, Monetary freedom- 75.6%, Investment freedom- 50%, Financial freedom - 50%, Private ownership - 30%.

This way Kyrgyzstan is in the top 70 of the most economically free countries. It did much better than last year and according to the researchers it is due to the improved investment climate of the country. Kyrgyzstan now is the 12th country member of 30 countries of Asia region and its scores are more than average.

Source: New Eurasia (Russian version) (English version)
Original report source: Heritage Foundation

Ratings:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Ireland
4. Australia
5. United States
6. New Zealand
7. Canada
8. Chile
9. Switzerland
10. United Kingdom
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70. Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic)
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74. Turkey
75. Slovenia
76. Kazakhstan
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80. Greece
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83. Poland
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114. Tajikistan
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130. Uzbekistan
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152. Turkmenistan
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Full list: Index of Economic Freedom

Kyrgyzstan Profile: Economic Freedom 2008 - Kyrgyz Republic