World Economic outlook - 2012 Bangladesh on economic freedom index : Bangladesh has been given the 130th place among the 184 countries rated as the freest to carry out business in.
According to the rating done by the premier Washington-based think tank Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, Bangladesh has moved slightly upward on the score card by 0.2 point, though its ranking remained static compared to that of the last year.
So far as South Asian nations are concerned, Bangladesh with its score point at 53.2 is trailing behind Sri Lanka (58.3), Bhutan (56.6), Pakistan (54.7), and India (54.6).
The measurement of Economic Freedom Index is based on ten specific categories of freedom in the areas of labour, business, trade, fiscal policy, government spending, monetary policy, finance, investment, property rights and corruption. Obviously, Bangladesh could not perform equally well in all these categories of economic freedom.
The slightly better score relates to improvements in the areas of business and labour freedom. However, the rating in trade freedom has shown a downtrend compared to that in the last year.
Other positive trends include improvements in the regulatory efficiency demonstrated through a more simplified processing of business with attendant reduction in start-up time by about 19 days.
However, the full extent of the better functioning labour market remains largely underexploited, while the increased labour productivity is yet to be matched by a raise in wage structure. The government adopted some measures to contain higher inflationary pressure preventing it from impacting negatively on economic growth.
The report adds that administrative corruption and "inefficient judicial system" are still a barrier to better economic performance. The reform regime, too, has largely remained asymmetric and deficient. The governance is weak, while structural deficiencies continue to dog development efforts. The government's continued interference in the economy as well as the over-politicised regulatory regimes has rendered the foundation of economic freedom fragile.
Despite the drawbacks, the rating by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal still puts Bangladesh in a better light than generally perceived by experts at home. Moreover, given the economy's ever-expanding links to and increasing dependence on external factors like exports, foreign remittances as well as narrowing down of foreign aid inflow, it is no mean achievement.
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