MANILA – The Philippines slipped nine spots in terms of economic freedom as weak monetary freedom, government integrity, and the tax burden outweighed improvements in property rights, the 2019 Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) of Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation showed.
The Philippines got an economic freedom score of 63.8, classified as moderately free.
The country’s score, however, decreased by 1.2 points from its 2018 score of 65.0, pulling down its global ranking to 70th place out of 186 countries.
The Philippines ranked 61st last year.
“Its overall score has decreased by 1.2 points, with drops in scores for monetary freedom, government integrity, and the tax burden outweighing a higher score for property rights,” The Heritage Foundation said.
The Philippines also dropped to 15th place from 13th last year in its ranking among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Despite the rankings drop, the think tank said the country’s overall score is above the regional and world averages of 60.6 and 60.8, respectively.
“The absence of entrepreneurial dynamism thwarts development. Despite the adoption of some fiscal reforms, deeper institutional reforms are needed in interrelated areas: business freedom, investment freedom, and the rule of law,” The Heritage Foundation said.
“The judicial system remains weak and vulnerable to political influence,” it added.
The think tank noted that continued strong economic growth, driven in part by ambitious state-funded infrastructure projects, has allowed the government to prioritize domestic law-and-order issues over economic policy concerns.
However, it said that investors remain concerned about President Rodrigo Duterte’s “heavy-handed rule,” “although Duterte has consolidated support from Congress.”
Hong Kong topped the 2019 IEF with a score of 90.2. It was followed by Singapore with 89.4, New Zealand with 84.4, Switzerland with 81.9, Australia with 80.9, and Ireland with 80.5.
The top six countries are classified as having the freest economies.
Other categories in the IEF are mostly free, moderately free, mostly unfree, and repressed.
The IEF is an annual survey published since 1995 by the Heritage Foundation.
The 2019 Index graded economies based on 12 independent factors namely: property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, government spending, tax burden, fiscal health, trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom.
“Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property,” The Heritage Foundation said.
“In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please. In economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital, and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself.” (GMA News)
