November 1 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government said it expects to score much better in the next annual Doing Business report of the World Bank Group as measures to clear administrative obstacles take hold.
Croatia has slid to 51st position in terms of ease of doing business in the Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs report released on Tuesday, from 43rd spot in the previous edition.
The recently introduced tax reforms and an action plan to relieve the economy of administrative burdens will surely boost Croatia's score in the next edition of the report, the government said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The government explained that since the Doing Business 2018 report covers the period from June 2016 to the end of May 2017, the effects of Croatia's comprehensive tax reform, which came into force in January 2017, have not been shown.
It, however, said it will analyse the report and "all useful recommendations it contains to further improve the business environment", which is one of the priorities of the government programme.
New Zealand leads the ranking in in the Doing Business 2018 report, followed by Singapore and Denmark. Macedonia ranks 11th, one spot down from last year, and is the only country in Southeast Europe (SEE) that is part of the top 20 list in this year's edition of the report.
The second best destination for doing business in SEE is Slovenia, which ranks 37th, seven spots down from last year, followed by Kosovo in 40th place, Montenegro in 42nd place, and Bulgaria in 50th place compared to 38th spot last year. The lowest ranked among SEE countries is Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 86th position.