Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s economic freedomscore is now 61.7, making its economy the 90th freest in the 2021 Index of EconomicFreedom.
In the Index, released by the Heritage Foundation, thecountry’s overall score has increased by 2.9 points, primarily because of animprovement in fiscal health.
Vietnam is ranked 17th among the 40 countries in theAsia–Pacific region, and its overall score is above the regional and worldaverages.
The country’s economy broke into the moderately freecategory this year for the first time. Its ranking could increase further ifthe government took additional action to liberalise investment rules and thefinancial sector, according to the Foundation.
Three of the top 10 finishers — Singapore (1st),Ireland (5th), and China's Taiwan (6th) — recorded score increases this year.
Launched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries infour broad policy areas that affect economic freedom: rule of law; governmentsize; regulatory efficiency; and open markets.
There are 12 specific categories, namely property rights,judicial effectiveness, government integrity, tax burden, government spending,fiscal health, business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom, tradefreedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom. Scores in these categoriesare averaged to create an overall economic freedom score./.