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Tirana, 22 Jan. 2007 (AENews) – Albania is ranked 30th in a list of 41 European countries in the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom published in Washington by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation.

 

According to the index, Albania’s economy is 61.4 per cent free, which ranks it 66th among the 161 countries examined by the report. “The level of economic freedom decreased by 0.6 percentage point during the past year, partially reflecting new methodological detail, leaving Albania below the regional average.

 

Comparatively, Albania’s freedom level is on par with other developing Balkan states like Croatia and Macedonia but still higher than that of Greece, a member of the European Union.

 

Fiscal freedom, freedom from government, and monetary freedom all rate highly, but the overall score is reduced by Albania’s poor performance in property rights and freedom from corruption.

 

The unimpressive score in property rights is largely a result of political interference in the judiciary, leading to erratic enforcement of the country’s laws.

 

Albania’s economic freedom ranks above the world average, and its score has risen over the past seven years, a noteworthy achievement in a region characterized by federal separatism and instability.

 

If Albania maintains its impressively low tax levels while doing more to combat corruption, its score should continue to rise,” reads the index.

 

The index, which measures the level of openness of economies and their potential growth, is measured by factors such as freedom to invest and trade, the political system, labour and property rights.

 

Source: http://www.heritage.org/index/countryFiles/pdfs/Albania.pdf