Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan ranked 91st among 179 countries on economic freedom in an annual report released by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation on Thursday.

The country was rated 92nd in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom and 96th freest in the world in the 2010 rankings.

Azerbaijan’s economic freedom score is 58.9 points in this year’s Index. Its overall score is 0.8 point lower than last year, reflecting worsened performance in government spending and business freedom. Azerbaijan is ranked 15th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is above the regional average, the Heritage Foundation said.

It said wide-ranging reforms have resulted in some progress in regulatory efficiency and economic diversification, improving Azerbaijan’s overall macroeconomic and entrepreneurial environments. Openness to global trade and investment, coupled with recent tax reforms, has aided the country’s transition to a more market-based system.

Nonetheless, the report said, "substantial challenges" remain, particularly in implementing deeper institutional and systemic reforms that are critical to strengthening the foundations of economic freedom. Property rights and freedom from corruption remain weak, and government interference and control hurt overall monetary stability and foreign investment. The overall regulatory reform process has slowed, eroding some of the gains from earlier years, the US think-tank claimed.

The rankings build on 10 indicators, including fiscal freedom, monetary freedom, opportunities for investments, property rights and freedom from corruption.

Hong Kong has ranked as the freest country in the world for an 18th straight year.

Azerbaijan’s neighbors in the South Caucasus region - Georgia and Armenia - were rated 34th and 39th respectively.

Russia ranked 144th and Iran – 171st.