Economic freedom: Philippines ranks 70th

WASHINGTON – The Philippines has the world’s 70th freest economy though its overall economic freedom score decreased by 1.2 points from last year to 63.8 points, The Heritage Foundation said.

In its 2019 Index of Economic Freedom report analyzing 180 countries throughout the world and which was released recently, the think tank cited drops in scores for monetary freedom, government integrity and the tax burden outweighing a higher score for property rights.

The Philippines ranked 15th among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and its overall score was above the regional and world averages.

“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,” it said.

“Investors remain concerned about President Duterte’s heavy-handed rule, although Duterte has consolidated support from Congress.”

The think tank also said the absence of entrepreneurial dynamism thwarts development and 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 judicial system remains weak and vulnerable to political influence,” the think tank said.

At number 70, the Philippines is listed among the moderately free economies. Other categories include free, mostly free, mostly unfree and repressed economies. Iraq, Libya, Liechtenstein, Somalia, Syria and Yemen were not ranked due to lack of data.

On top of the rankings was Hong Kong with 90.2 points, followed in order by Singapore (89.4), New Zealand (84.4), Switzerland (81.9) and Australia (80.9). They are the freest economies.

According to the foundation, economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In economically free societies, individuals are free to work, produce, consume and invest in any way they please; and 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.