Romania was ranked 95 regarding the economic freedom in 2004, lagging far behind Bulgaria ranked 68, according to the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) report released this year by the Canadian research Fraser Institute. The best positions in the Eastern Europe are taken by Estonia ranked 12 and Hungary ranked 20.
Romania managed to advance from the 118th place in 1995 in terms of economic freedom evolution. The 2004 study examined 130 states.
The top positions are held by Hong Kong and Singapore while the laggard are Zimbabwe, Congo and Guinea-Bissau.
The index measured the degree of economic freedom in five areas: (1) size of government; (2) legal structure and security of property rights; (3) access to sound money; (4) freedom to trade internationally; and (5) regulation of credit, labour and business.
To this study the independent research the institute Romania Think Tank has contributed as well.
