Madrid (EFE).- Spain is still at the bottom among the OECD countries in economic freedom due to its “high levels of debt and public deficit” that limit the capacity for growth, according to the index of economic freedom of the Heritage Foundation, adapted and presented this Monday by the Institute of Economic Studies (IEE).
According to this classification, Spain has fallen in one year from position 29 among the 38 OECD countries in economic freedom to 31, although it has improved in the rating of business freedom, going from position 32 in 2022 to 29 in 2023.
Regarding the world ranking, Spain also improves a few places, going from 41 to 35.
“Spain is among the countries with moderate economic freedom, far from the top positions and in a relatively low situation when compared to developed economies”, highlighted the president of the IEE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa, and its general director, Gregorio Izquierdo, who have emphasized this low situation in the OECD framework and the evolution in the last decade.
In 2012, they have influenced, Spain was in position 22 of these same 38 countries.
Variables that hinder our economic freedom the most
“Among the variables that most hinder our economic freedom today are the excessive size of our public sector, the high tax burdens and the strong fiscal imbalance”, they have summarized from the IEE, an institution linked to the CEOE.
“The accumulation of consecutive deficits and its reflection in the growing public indebtedness are consequences of a budgetary policy that interferes, to a great extent, in the principle of economic freedom by disturbing macroeconomic stability and limiting the capacity for future growth, among other effects” , highlights the IEE.
“It is a critical issue (…) the absence of free enterprise slows down economic development,” added Izquierdo, who also pointed to the “poor regulatory quality.”
In the presentation, the IEE has put as a “clear example of regulations that limit the freedom of business” the bill that sought to create the Independent Administrative Authority for the Defense of Financial Clients and that the dissolution of Parliament has caused it to decline.
“The initiative infringes the constitutional right to free enterprise (…) it is an attack on the principle of free enterprise,” they have criticized.