Kazakhstan is located on the 41st line of the economic freedom rating, having improved its position by one point compared to last year. The rating was made by the American research center Heritage Foundation. Our country scored 69.1 points out of 100 possible. In comparison with last year, the indicator of economic freedom has improved by only 0.1 points.
"Kazakhstan ranks 11th among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and its overall score is above the regional and global average," the report says.
In the ranking of the best countries in the world, Kazakhstan is in 70th place
The authors of the rating note that, despite some positive changes, investors are still concerned about corruption and bureaucracy in the country, especially at the regional and municipal levels.
"An additional problem is the banking sector, which suffers from low liquidity, poor asset quality and lack of transparency," the Heritage Foundation said.
Still, Kazakhstan outranked countries such as Poland (45th), Turkey (58th), Spain (60th), France (71st) and China (110th).
Of the CIS countries, Armenia closest to our country - 44th place, Azerbaijan - 67th place, Kyrgyzstan - 78th place.
Russia is on the 107th place, Belarus - on the 108th, Ukraine - on the 150th.
The rating of the economies of countries is based on ten criteria, among them - guarantee of property rights, protection from corruption, efficiency and transparency of budget expenditures, freedom of trade, flexibility of the labor market.
Last year, the indicator of economic freedom of Kazakhstan improved at once by 5.4 points compared to 2016. Experts explained the growth by the fact that Kazakhstan has received significant benefits from the policy of openness and flexibility of the economy over the past ten years.
