Ghana dropped 5 places to place 67th out of 189 countries in the latest World Bank Doing Business Report.

Ghana, which is in the lower middle income bracket, according to the report titled “Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises” did not fare well in most of the 10 categories.

According to the report, Ghana placed 128th on the ease of Starting a Business.

Data collected indicated that it took a firm 14 days to start a business in the country. The report added that Ghana made Starting a Business more difficult by requiring entrepreneurs to obtain a tax identification number prior to company incorporation.

It further explained that the country had not conducted any reform with regard to Starting a Business.

Again, the country placed 159th in Dealing with Construction Permits.

According to data collected by the Doing Business Report 2014, it takes 246 and half days and also costs 259.6 percent of income per capita in Dealing with Construction Permits in the country.

Ghana’s best ranked position was Getting Credit where it placed 28th globally.

Over the last couple of years, the nation had embarked on reforming its banking laws including the implementation of the Credit Reporting Law to assess the credit worthiness of borrowers.

It however stood at 85th in the ranking of 189 economies on the ease of Getting Electricity.

Again the report said the country had not conducted any report with regard to Getting Electricity. The country stood at 34 and 49th respectively in Protecting Investors, Registering a Property and Enforcing Contracts respectively.

It was ranked 68 and 109th in Paying Taxes and Trading Across Borders. Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Burundi were among the 10 economies in the world that improved business regulation over the period.

Singapaore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States of America placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively whilst the United Kingdom was ranked 10th in the world.