BELGRADE (Serbia), March 5 (SeeNews) – Serbia's government needs to reform the judicial system and direct more resources to the Anti-Corruption Agency to continue improving the business and investment climate, U.S.-based think-tank The Heritage Foundation said.
"Serbia’s economy maintained its upward trajectory in the moderately free category this year," the think-tank said in the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom published earlier this week.
Serbia’s economic freedom score is 67.2, making its economy the 54th freest in the 2021 Index. Its overall score has increased by 1.2 points, primarily because of an improvement in the tax burden score. Serbia is ranked 30th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is below the regional average but above the world average.
Regarding the rule of law, the Heritage Fiundation noted that obtaining clear title to land is difficult and uncertain, enforcement of contracts is weak, while the judiciary and prosecutors are subject to undue political influence.
"Corruption remains a serious problem and reportedly is most pervasive in cases involving public procurement, natural resource extraction, and government-owned property," The Heritage Foundation said.
Serbia has made starting a business more complicated by requiring entrepreneurs to obtain an electronic certificate and register the final owners separately after incorporation, but labour costs are low compared to European averages, it noted. "The effect of institutional impediments to foreign investment is exacerbated by slow progress in reforming public administration and state-run companies. The small financial sector, dominated by banking, remains relatively stable."
The index measures economic freedom in 12 areas - from property rights to entrepreneurship - through 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets.