Frank and Aiyaz’s poor leadership style reflected in poor Fiji economic freedom ranking
Fiji’s economic freedom score is 57.3, making its economy the 105th freest in the 2012 Index. Its overall score is 3.1 points lower than last year due to considerable declines in property rights and freedom from corruption. Fiji is ranked 18th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is below the world and regional averages. Fiji recorded the fifth largest score decline in the 2012 Index.
Performing notably worse across the 10 economic freedoms, the island economy is no longer one of the “moderately free” economies in the Index. The quality of the judicial framework has deteriorated considerably, severely hampered by the lack of judicial independence or any strong political will to eradicate corruption. With the judiciary becoming more vulnerable to political interference, corruption has become a serious cause for concern and undermines the foundations for long-term economic development.
Regulatory uncertainty and the lack of effective open-market policies continue to cause economic stagnation. Public debt has surpassed 50 percent of GDP, a level higher than that in most regional neighbors. Inefficient government-owned enterprises in sugar, electricity, and transportation significantly impede fiscal stability. Monetary freedom remains constrained by state meddling through price controls.
Rule of Law
Protection of property is highly uncertain. The backlog of cases is significant, and there is a shortage of prosecutors. Government actions undermine the judiciary’s independence. Obtaining land titles is difficult, and the enforcement of intellectual property rights is inadequate. Limited accountability for corruption and lack of effective disciplinary processes pose challenges to entrepreneurs.
Read and see more data here http://www.heritage.org/Index/country/Fiji
