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Sri Lanka ranked 73 at global competitiveness index

05 Sep 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

Sri Lanka has slid eight places to rank 73rd out of 144 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 released by the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

Sri Lanka, which climbed three spots to 65 last year from 68 in 2012, struggled to make headway despite its overall score remaining at 4.2 (from a range of 1 to 7) from the previous index.

The country's best rank remains 52nd that was achieved in 2011, gained in the upswing experienced after the end of the war.

Access to financing, inefficient government bureaucracy and tax regulations were emphasized as the three top problematic factors for doing business by the report.

Efficiency of institutions also slipped from 54 in 2013 to 62 in the latest report with even infrastructure dropping two ranks from 73 to 75.

However, macroeconomic environment improved from 120 in 2013 to 114, labor market efficiency remained the same at 135 and market size also remaining stagnant at 61.

According to the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the United States improved its competitiveness position for the second consecutive year, climbing two places to third on the back of gains to its institutional framework and innovation scores.

Elsewhere in the top five, Switzerland tops the ranking for the sixth consecutive year, Singapore remains second and Finland (fourth) and Germany (fifth) both dropped one place.

They were followed by Japan (sixth), which climbs three places and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (seventh), which remains stable. (Xinhua)