OECD releases Services Trade Restrictiveness Index

Current context: The recent release of the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that India ranked 47th out of around 50 countries covered in the report.

• Despite moving up one spot from the previous year, India still remains in the bottom five countries.
• The report covers regulations related to strategic services such as freight transport, accounting, legal services, and more.
• Japan secured the top spot in the ranking, while Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, and India were at the bottommost positions.
• The ranking of countries was based on their restrictions on the development of strategic services.
• India moved up one spot due to the privatization of Air India and the elimination of pricing guidelines for share transfer between non-residents and residents, which eased the economic stakeholders.

Question:

Q.1 Which country secured the top position in the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index?
a. India
b. UK
c. Netherlands
d. Japan