Moldova retrograded in the 2009 Index of Economic Freedom, published jointly by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, ranking 120th out of 183 countries covered by the Index, Info-Prim Neo reports The annually updated Index, released Tuesday, assigns Moldova a total score of 54.9 points (decreasing by 3 points from the previous year), placing it between Cote d'Ivoire (119th spot) and Papua New Guinea (121st). The Index tracks the march of economic freedom around the world across 10 specific factors {(business Freedom, trade freedom, monetary freedom, freedom from government, fiscal freedom, property rights, investment freedom, financial freedom, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom)} and average them equally into a total score. Moldova ranks 39th among 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is below the world average. With a total score of 54.9, Moldova's retrogression is largely due to declines in labor freedom (45.1) and property rights (40.0). But Moldova's weakest performance is freedom from corruption (28.0). According to Moldova's overview, there is significant corruption in most areas of the bureaucracy, and an inefficient public sector suffers from a bloated payroll and ever-rising salary increases. Moldova scores just above the world average in trade freedom, business freedom, and fiscal freedom and has achieved relatively steady economic growth over the past five years. At the same time, there a a number of institutional shortcomings in Moldova that impede entrepreneurial activity. Monetary freedom, investment freedom, and freedom from corruption are weak. Inflation is high, although the government has been phasing out price supports on certain goods. Foreign investment faces hurdles ranging from bureaucratic inefficiency to outright restriction. 2009 Index's top ten includes Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the US and Canada. Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.