Albania enjoys the freest economy in the region

TIRANA, Jan 20؁lbania has region’s freest economy, Bosnia the least free, while Bulgaria is sole country in region whose score has dropped.
All but one country of the Balkans registered an improvement in economic freedom last year but the region still faces difficult challenges, notably corruption, political interference and excessive bureaucracy, according to the Index of Economic Freedom.
The index of 179 world nations is published annually by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, and the regional details are announced by its strategic partner, the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy, an independent think tank.
Albania had the freest and Bosnia the least free economy in the region, the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom said, rating the two countries in 53rd and 110th position respectively.
The index measures economic freedom within 10 specific categories including business freedom, labour freedom, and government spending.
The report praised Albania for maintaining “relatively sound” macroeconomic stability in the face of the global economic slowdown, stressing that an overall score of 66 points for economic freedom, by one of the poorest countries in Europe, was “above the world average”.
Albania’s flat tax rate of 10 per cent for individuals and businesses, and structural reforms aimed at fostering private-sector growth, had “led to increased production and consumption, as well as a substantially reduced poverty rate,” the report added
However, it warned that money laundering remained a significant problem in Albania’s cash-based economy, along with weak property rights, largely due to “political interference in the judiciary”.
Five other West Balkan countries, namely Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, all registered an increase of between 0.3 and 5.4 points in their economic freedom scores.
Overall, Albania held the 53rd position followed by Slovenia – 61; Turkey – 67, Montenegro – 68; Greece – 73; Bulgaria – 75; Croatia – 92 and Bosnia/Herzegovina – 110.
The world in general saw contraction of economic freedoms because of last year’s financial crisis that forced governments to adopt huge economic stimulus packages and increase public spending.
Hong Kong has maintained its position as the world’s freest economy for 16 consecutive years, followed by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland as Europe’s leader.
In Europe, Switzerland is the second freest economy, followed by Denmark and the United Kingdom. Europe’s top ten include Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. Belarus and Ukraine, categorised as repressive economies, ended at the bottom of the European rankings.