BRATISLAVA, January 13, (WEBNOVINY) — Economic freedom in Slovakia deteriorated last year, based on the latest economic freedom index released by the Heritage Foundation. Based on the ranking, Slovakia dropped two spots to the 37th position from nearly 180 countries with 69.5 points, which was a 0.2-point decline. A year ago, the country gained 0.3 points. “The decrease in Slovakia’s score last year related to worse evaluation of corruption and ownership rights,” explains the think tank.
Slovakia lost 5 points to 45 in the evaluation of corruption, which according to the material, affects particularly the health care system, judiciary, and education sectors. The score related to protection of ownership rights dropped 5 points as well, to 50 points, due to lengthy court proceedings and firmly rooted corruption in the judiciary. On the other hand, Slovakia did best in the evaluation of investment freedom, gaining 5 points to 75. “Reforms have bolstered transparency of investment rules but the efficiency of bureaucracy could be higher,” states the evaluation.
Hong Kong held on to its top position in the ranking with 89.7 points. Regarding Slovakia’s neighbors, the Czech Republic was the most successful, when it gained six spots to end 28th (70.4 points). Hungary placed 51st (66.6 points) and Poland was 68th (64.1 points).
SITA
