Egypt and Pakistan under surveillance as FTSE stock indices degrade

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global index provider FTSE Russell said on Thursday it will add Pakistan and Egypt to watch lists for a possible downgrade to its equity index suites.

Both countries will be on watch lists for risk of downgrading to “secondary emerging” markets, with Pakistan seeking to become a “frontier market” while Egypt could be relegated to “unclassified”.

Pakistan’s market capitalization will be assessed at the close on December 29, FTSE said.

Vietnam will remain on the list for possible upgrade from “frontier market” to “secondary emerging,” the index provider said.

The FTSE had announced this month that Nigeria had been reclassified from frontier to unclassified, and the country was dropped from stock market indices effective September 18. The move, the FTSE said, was due to problems with international investors repatriating capital.

FTSE said it will update the watchlist status of Vietnam, Pakistan and Egypt as part of its equity country rankings scheduled for March 2024.

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