A new World Bank Group report finds that four of eight economies in South Asia implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier for local entrepreneurs to do business in 2013/14.

The latest report ‘Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency' finds that since 2005, all economies in the region have taken steps to improve the business environment in areas measured by the report. India implemented the region's largest number of regulatory reforms in that period, with 20, followed by Sri Lanka with 16.

While the overall South Asia region is modernising its business environment, it fell behind other regions that have implemented more reforms in this period. India now ranks 142nd amongst 189 countries in the ‘Ease of Doing Business' rankings, dropping two places from the 2014 ranking. The drop is because other economies have performed much better, the report says. On the positive side, India's score in this year's report improved to 53.97 points from 2014's 52.78 points.

The report takes into account only the measures taken by the previous government; Modi Government's slew of reforms has not been taken into account for this year's report. The impact of the current government's actions will be felt on next year's report.

The report finds that India set the pace for regulatory reform in the region in 2013/14. It made starting a business easier by reducing registration fees and strengthened minority investor protections. And the electricity utility in Mumbai made getting a new connection less costly by reducing the security deposit.

This year, for the first time, Doing Business collected data for a second city in economies with a population of more than 100 million. In Bangladesh, it now analyzes business regulations in Chittagong and Dhaka; in India, in Delhi and Mumbai; and in Pakistan, in Lahore and Karachi. The report finds that differences between cities are common in indicators measuring the steps, time, and cost to complete regulatory transactions where local agencies play a larger role.

The report finds that Singapore tops the global ranking on the ease of doing business. Joining it on the list of the top 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulatory environments are New Zealand; Hong Kong SAR, China; Denmark; the Republic of Korea; Norway; the United States; the United Kingdom; Finland; and Australia.
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