Poland moves up in Index of Economic Freedom

In 2014, Poland was ranked 50th in terms of economic freedom by the annual report, published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think-tank.

Poland was ranked 18th in Europe this year, with the report describing its “economic freedom status” as “moderately free”.

The report said there were concerns over the management of government spending and labour freedom in Poland.

But it added: “Poland’s transition to a free-market economy has been facilitated by structural reforms and an increasingly vibrant private sector.

"Openness to global commerce and trade, competitive taxation, and an efficient regulatory system have encouraged more dynamic and broadly based economic expansion.”

At a conference discussing the report, Marcin Nowacki from the Warsaw Enterprise Institute said Poland has scored well in terms of market openness and monetary policy.

“But there is a lot of work to do in terms of public spending and the labour market. Our neighbors Lithuania, Germany and Czech Republic were ranked higher in this regard.”

The index takes into account 10 areas, from property rights to entrepreneurship.

Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand were ranked as the global leaders in terms of economic freedom. (pk)