Nov. 26, Payvand.com- The Wall Street Journal, the leading U.S. business newspaper, and the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, have released the 2003 Index of Economic Freedom.

The index ranked 161 countries in the world according to ten factors -- trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign investment, banking and finance, wages and prices, property rights, regulation, and black market.

"A systematic analysis of these factors continues to demonstrate that countries with the highest levels of economic freedom also have the highest living standards," the index said.

Iran's rank was 146 out of 161 in this year's report. While Iran's score of 4.15 is 0.40 points better than last year, Iran is still among the "repressed" group of countries. Iran's economy is described by the report as follows:

"Iran had one of the Middle East's most advanced economies before it was crippled by the 1979 Islamic revolution, the devastating 19801988 Iran-Iraq war, and widespread economic mismanagement. Hopes for systematic political and economic reform were raised under President Mohammed Khatami, who was re-elected in June 2001, but Khatami has been hamstrung by opposition from entrenched bureaucrats who permeate the state agencies and by Islamic hard-liners in the judiciary and elsewhere who value ideological purity over economic progress. In late 2001, for example, the Council of Guardians rejected foreign investment legislation passed by the Majlis (parliament). In March 2002, however, Khatami's government was able to establish a new unified currency regime, and the central bank has given permission for the establishment of Iran's first private banks since the 1979 revolution. Iran's trade policy and fiscal burden of government scores are both 2 points better this year. As a result, its overall score is 0.40 point better this year."

Iran's score for each category was as follows:

category	score
Trade Policy	Score: 3-Better (moderate level of protectionism)
Fiscal Burden of Government	Score Income and Corporate Taxation: 3-Better (moderate tax rates) Score Government Expenditures: 2-Better (low level of government expenditure) Final Score: 2.5-Better (moderate cost of government)
Government Intervention in the Economy	Score: 4-Stable (high level)
Monetary Policy	Score: 4-Stable (high level of inflation)
Capital Flows and Foreign Investment	Score: 4-Stable (high barriers)
Banking and Finance	Score: 5Stable (very high level of restrictions)
Wages and Prices	Score: 4-Stable (high level of intervention)
Property Rights	Score: 5-Stable (very low level of protection)
Regulation	Score: 5-Stable (very high level)
Black Market	Score: 5-Stable (very high level of activity)

Elsewhere in the report it is stated that:

"Economically free countries tend to have higher per capita income than less free countries. For instance, while Hong Kong’s GDP per capita in 2000 was $24,218, Iran’s was $1,649 and Zimbabwe’s was a mere $621. 2 As long as Iran and Zimbabwe continue to maintain economies that are repressed, their citizens will continue to suffer."

"Botswana and Iran are tied as the second most improved countries in the past year. Additionally, Botswana is one of the countries that have greatly improved since 1995. (See Table 3.) Last year, Botswana’s score was 2.90; this year, its score is 2.50. Iran’s score last year was 4.55; this year, it is 4.15. This is the second consecutive year that Iran has improved."

The entire 2003 Index of Economic Freedom is available on the Heritage Foundation website: http://www.heritage.org/index