Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend U.Ismalova / With 6.2 points, or 0.2 points more than in 2006, given in accordance with the Fraser Institute, Azerbaijan ranks ninety-first in the index of economic independence, Sabit Bagirov, the head of the Political-Economic Studies Centre reported.
Since 1996, the Fraser Institute has been publishing an annual report on the status of economic independence index of member-countries of the International Network of Economic Independence Institute. Azerbaijan entered the International Institute in 1995. In 2006, the country ranked eighty-third.
According to Bagirov, the economic independence of countries is defined in accordance with five components of a country's economy, including the role of the government in the economy, legal and civil rights issues, financial systems, free foreign trade, and the business regulating system. Honk Kong and Singapore gained the highest index during the year, whilst Zimbabwe and Myanmar held the lowest index.
