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Rabat – While Morocco looks to have edged steadily higher in the global index of economic freedom, the country’s ranking remains largely suboptimal, coming in 99th place worldwide.
Put together by the Canadian public policy think tank Fraser Institute, the index tracks the performance of countries’ policies and institutions that are directly relevant to economic freedom.
Morocco is the third highest ranking MENA country in this year’s ranking, with the North African kingdom coming behind Saudi Arabia and Oman. Despite its regionally advanced ranking, the country’s performance is way below the international average.
Comprising five areas, the index looks first into the size of governments and the degree of their interference in the economy, arguing that a higher level of government intervention in the economy correlates with reduced levels of economic freedom.
Morocco scored 6.63 out of 10 on economic interference, ranking 84th in the world. The score reflects higher than recommended levels of taxation and government-controlled enterprises, resulting in decreased economic freedom.
The second sub-index is related to the Legal System and Property Rights; it measures a government’s effectiveness in protecting individuals and their rightfully acquired property.
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Morocco ranks fairly better in providing legal protection to individuals and their property, coming in 63rd place worldwide.
In addition to measuring the performance of governments, the index equally tracks countries’ performances in managing macroeconomic policies and controlling inflation under the Sound Money sub-index.
In its report, the Fraser Institute argued that keeping inflation in check is essential to economic freedom, especially as high and volatile inflation rates threaten individual property rights and make it difficult for them to manage their assets in the long term.
Data from the institute indicates that Morocco is in the third quantile worldwide, ranking 120th and scoring 7.3 overall.
The fourth and fifth subindexes assess the ease of freedom to trade internationally and the level of accommodation of regulations to a free economy. Morocco ranks 108th and 103rd respectively on the subindexes, echoing the country’s less than average overall performance in the index.
The Canadian think tank’s ranking is based on data collected in 2020 from benchmark international economic intelligence institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
