Poland has dropped to the 45th spot in this year’s Index of Economic Freedom, which measures the ease of conducting business worldwide.
Last year the country stood ine 39th place in the ranking issued by The Heritage Foundation andThe Wall Street Journal.
According to the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, the Polish partner of the report, Poland’s economic freedom levels – which are one point lower than they were a year ago – are in large part a result of the growth dynamics of other countries, which have allowed them to overtake Poland. The reason for Poland’s fall can be thus explained more by other countries’ fast growth rather than Poland’s problems.
The authors of the report wrote: “Poland’s economy has demonstrated a fairly high degree of macroeconomic resilience. Structural reforms that have included trade liberalisation, implementation of a competitively low corporate tax rate, and modernization of the regulatory environment have facilitated the transition to a market-oriented economy,”
A comparatively high budget deficit is still a barrier to the economic freedom of Poland, the report added.
“Fiscal consolidation and prudent management of public finance are ongoing concerns. The government needs to further reduce the budget deficit and curb the growth of public debt. In 2016, an additional tax on financial-services companies was imposed to help finance increased social spending. Continued reform, particularly in strengthening the independence of the judiciary and eradicating corruption, is needed to ensure greater economic dynamism.”
The average level of global economic freedom has increased by 0.2 points in this year’s index, reaching a record level of 60.9 points. The average for Europe was 68.0 points. Hong Kong, Switzerland and New Zealand were situated at this years’ top of the ranking.
Source: Radio Poland, PSCoC (MP)
