Montenegro has improved its position in the Economic Freedom Index of the Heritage Foundation by twenty six places

In the previous year, Montenegro has succeeded in improving its economic freedom by 26 placed in the Economic Freedom Index 2010 published by the Heritage Foundation, being ranked 68th out of 183 analyzed countries. Based on recorded reforms, the progress of Montenegro was recorder in seven out of ten indicators, and at the same time seven areas were identified in which Montenegro’s progress is beyond the world average. Based on the analysis of the Heritage Foundation, Montenegro is the member of the group of "moderately free" countries. In Index for 2010, highlights the significant improvements in the flexibility of the labor market and improved regulatory framework providing incentives to the business environment for investment, which resulted in achieving the biggest increase in economic freedom. Montenegro became more competitive because of recently applied tax reliefs, while the level of public expenditure is being controlled. In the transition process, the achievement of greater economic freedom was driven by the economic growth of 7% over the past five years. The “business freedom" indicator states that the time for starting a business in Montenegro takes 13 days, while the world average is 35 days. Indicator "trade freedom" increased due to the trade liberalization, while there is still room for reform in the area of high customs tariffs, import restrictions, weak protection of intellectual property rights, and corruption. The "fiscal freedom" indicator highlights the competitiveness in tax rates. The tax rate on personal income was reduced from 15% to 12% from January 2009. And 9% in 2010. Although the progress was made in the indicator "public consumption”, it was stated that state expenditures, including consumption and direct payments are relatively high ...