Mongolia’s Economic Freedom ranks 75th from 177 countries

By B.KHASH-ERDENE

The Index of Economic Freedom 2013 was published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation and Mongolia scored 61.7, which makes it the 75th economy out of 177 countries evaluated. This is a slight improvement on the part of Mongolia as it scored 0.2 more points than its 2012 score, which won Mongolia the title of “Moderately Free” – above the global average score which is 59.6.
“Mongolia has gradually moved toward a more modern and vibrant economy, with double-digit economic growth driven by the booming mining sector. The trade regime is increasingly open, and the regulatory framework has become more efficient, supporting the development of a growing private sector. The Fiscal Sustainability Law, which places ceilings on spending growth, structural budget deficits, and public debt in an effort to ensure fiscal discipline and long-term economic growth, is expected to take effect in phases beginning in 2013,” stated the heritage.org.
The Asia’s economic averagescore is 57.4. Mongolia is ranked 12th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region and its overall score is above the regional average.
“Despite notable strides made over the past decade, the momentum for swift structural reform has largely stalled. Prospects for enhancing economic freedom remain curtailed by a lack of institutional commitment to the strong protection of property rights and ineffectiveness in fighting systemic corruption. The judicial framework remains vulnerable to political interference, undermining respect for the rule of law,” concluded ‘heritage.org’regarding Mongolia’s economy.
Since 1995, the Index has brought Adam Smith’s theories about liberty, prosperity and economic freedom to life by creating 10 benchmarks that gauge the economic success of 185 countries around the world. The Index evaluates countries in four broad areas of economic freedom; rule of law, regulatory efficiency, limited government, and open markets.
For the 19th consecutive year, Hong Kong was ranked no. 1 globally (89.3 points), followed by no. 2 Singapore, no. 3 Australia and no. 4 New Zealand. North Korea ranked last, no. 177 of 177 with a point score of 1.5.
The world average score of 59.6 was only one-tenth of a point above the 2012 average. Since reaching a peak in 2008, the Index editors noted, global economic freedom has continued to stagnate. The overall trend for last year, however, was positive as among the 177 countries ranked in the 2013 Index the scores improved for 91 countries including Mongolia, with 78 countries declining.