Argentina will rise to 90 places in the Index of Economic Freedom if the reforms are implemented

In 2023, Argentina shared the economic freedom ranking with Lesotho (141), Nepal (142), Uganda (143), Belarus (145), Tajikistan (146), and Laos (147).. In addition, it is one of the worst Latin American economies, surpassed only by Haiti (149), Bolivia (167), Venezuela (174), and Cuba (175).

With the implementation of reforms Argentina would have an index of economic freedom similar to that of Spain (51), Romania (53) or France (57). Compared to the region, it can reach, and even exceed, Mexico (61) and Colombia (62). Although it was lower than Chile (22), Uruguay (27), Peru (44) and Costa Rica (45).

Singapore tops the Economic Freedom 2023 ranking with an index of 83.9 points. The freest economies platform is completed by Switzerland (83.8 points) and Ireland (82.0 points). On the other hand, North Korea, with a score of 2.9 points, appears to be the most repressive economy.

In qualitative terms, Implementing reforms implies that Argentina leaves the group of largely unfree economies(The index is in the range 50.0-59.9). In this group of 64 countries, the only Latin American economies present are Brazil, Nicaragua and El Salvador. With this improvement, Argentina will enter the group of moderately free economies (The index ranges from 60.0 to 69.9), with 55 countries, including most Latin American countries.

To illustrate this improvement, a preliminary assessment of the impact of the full implementation of the new government measures and announcements on the Economic Freedom Index in Argentina was carried out, according to the methodology used by the Heritage Foundation. Contents of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/23 Foundations for the Reconstruction of the Argentine Economy, the Draft Law of Foundations and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines and the Program for the Unification of Financial Accounts presented by the Ministry of Economy of the Argentine Nation. In addition, it is considered that the government will move forward as soon as possible, in line with what was announced, in abolishing capital and exchange controls (shares).

Greater freedom, greater prosperity

Empirical evidence suggests so Freer countries reach higher levels of development and income per capita. Average per capita income in free economies is 12.8 times higher than in economies with repressed freedoms.

For their part, per capita income among the largely unfree economies, the current group in Argentina, is less than half that of the moderately free economies, the potential group. This means that if Argentina implements reforms, it can aspire to at least double its per capita income. This in turn will lead to less poverty and more opportunities.