Pakistan economic freedom improves in 2019: Report

• Pakistan’s economic freedom score increased by 0.6 point reaching 55.0 in 2019, making its economy the 131st freest in the 2019 Index.
• Fellow South Asian neighbours including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka fared better than Pakistan, with overall scores of 55.2, 55.6 and 56.4, respectively.

Pakistan showed improvement in economic freedom indicators in 2019, as per the Economic Freedom Index 2019, released by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

Pakistan’s economic freedom score increased by 0.6 point reaching 55.0 in 2019, making its economy the 131st freest in the 2019 Index. “Its overall score has, with higher scores for judicial effectiveness and property rights outpacing declines in monetary freedom and fiscal health. Pakistan is ranked 32nd among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is below the regional and world averages,” stated the report.

Fellow South Asian neighbours including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka fared better than Pakistan, with overall scores of 55.2, 55.6 and 56.4, respectively.

The report highlighted that the country economy remains marred with decades of internal political disputes and low levels of foreign investment.

“Excessive state involvement in the economy and inefficient but omnipresent regulatory agencies inhibit private business formation. Lack of access to bank credit undermines entrepreneurship, and the financial sector’s isolation from the outside world slows innovation. The judicial system suffers from a serious backlog and poor security, and corruption continues to taint the judiciary and civil service,” the report said.

As per the report, global economic freedom has declined slightly over the past year. The global average economic freedom score in the 2019 Index is 60.8, a 0.3 point setback from last year but still the third-highest level in the 25-year history of the Index.

Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, and Ireland earned the designation of “free” with scores above 80.