New Zealand ranked as the second easiest place in the world to start a new business, Treasurer Bill English said today.

"This finding of the World Economic Forum in its 1999 Global Competitiveness Report has been noted in the latest edition of the Economist magazine.

"The Economist reported that, on a scale where 1 meant difficult and 7 easy, the United States topped the world with a score of 6.06 out of 7, with New Zealand the second easiest country to start a new business with a score just under 6.

"Other top-10 countries, ranked in order after New Zealand and bunched quite close behind in the range of about 4.75 to 5.75, were Iceland, Canada, Finland, Britain, Netherlands, Australia, Norway and Ireland," said Mr English.

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