In three subcategories, Panama scored higher than Chile.

The index of 98 countries worldwide looks at five key components that can make it easier or more difficult for entrepreneurs to access capital. Those components are:

• Economic Environment
• Banking Development
• Capital Market Development
• International Environment
• and Sovereign Ratings

The capital they are seeking may be used to start a new enterprise, expand a promising line of business, or restructure a large multiindustry firm, the institute says. However, the degree of capital access is not only relevant to a few, but can have a major impact on equality in a country, according to an analysis of the index. "Countries with high levels of inequality tend to be characterized by substantial barriers to capital, thus, other things being equal, underperform economically as they prevent their citizens from making full use of their human capital," the Milken Institute says in its analysis.

This year, three new countries from Latin America were added (see tables below), bringing to 18 the total from the region. Of the original 15 countries from last year's index, 12 saw declines in their scores, while only three saw an improvement.

However, the declines in Latin America were not unique on a global scale, where 57 of the 98 countries on the index saw decreases (including the United States and the United Kingdom).

While Chile continued to hold its position as the leader in Latin America, its score and global ranking fell compared with last year's index. Chile's score of 4.53 points represented a 0.19 point decline, while its rank fell from 24 to 29.

In three subcategories, Panama scored higher than Chile. 

Panama, which was one of the new countries added to the index, made a splashing debut as the second-best place in Latin America for capital access. Its score of 4.19 points gives it a rank of 34, ahead of countries like China, Poland and Egypt.

In three subcategories - macro-economic environment, banking governance and advanced capital markets, Panama actually scored higher than Chile.

Thanks largely to only using the U.S. dollar during its entire 99-year history, Panama has been able to maintain one of the lowest inflation rates in Latin America and one that often has been lower than that of the United States itself. In addition to hosting one of Latin America's top international banking centers, Pamama also boasts a relatively large number of domestic banks. And since the dollar is the legal currency, the country's central bank has limited authority, it neither prints money nor owns or bails out local banks.

The Dominican Republic scored a respectable 3.61 points, which places it around the middle of the Latin American ranking and 67 on the global ranking.

But Paraguay fared significantly worse, debuting with a score of 3.00 points, which gave it the last place on the Latin America list and among the last on the global ranking - 89 of 98 countries. Countries that were worse than Paraguay include Zimbabwe and Russia.

Uruguay saw the strongest increase, achieving a score of 3.55 points. That was 0.48 points more than last year and the highest increase of any country on the global index.