YEREVAN, August 26. /ARKA/. Armenia’s position in the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom, compiled by the Heritage Foundation, has improved by two notches, making its economy the 32nd freest economy in the world with economic freedom score of 71.9 and the freest economy in the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
Other EEU members rank as follows: Kazakhstan ranks 34th, Kyrgyzstan is 78th, Russia is 92nd, and Belarus is 5th. Armenia’s neighbor Georgia is 12th, Azerbaijan is 38th, Turkey is 76th and Iran is 168th.
Armenia’s overall score has increased by 1.3 points, primarily because of an improvement in fiscal health. Armenia is ranked 18th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages.
Economic freedom in Armenia has hovered between moderately free and mostly free for many years. GDP growth during the reporting period has continued to be strong. To institutionalize higher levels of economic freedom more firmly, the government needs to maintain its focus on improving judicial effectiveness and government integrity. Stronger rule of law would also have a positive impact on investment freedom.
Singapore’s economic freedom score is 89.7, making its economy the freest in the 2021 Index. Its overall score has increased by 0.3 point, primarily because of an improvement in the score for government spending. North Korea is at the bottom of the Index. -0-