Pakistan declared eligible for MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index

Index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said on Thursday Pakistan would be eligible for its Frontier Markets 100 Index and the Frontier Markets 15 percent Country Capped Index in May as part of its semi-annual review.

MSCI included the MSCI Pakistan Index in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index in one step coinciding with the November 2021 semi-annual classification.

“Following feedback received from market participants, Pakistan will become eligible for inclusion in the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 and the MSCI Frontier Markets 15% Country Capped Indexes as part of the May 2022 Semi-Annual Index Review (SAIR),” MSCI said in an announcement.

In 2017, MSCI announced changes to its indexes as a result of its semiannual market reclassification, including reclassifying Pakistan as an emerging market from frontier market status and the addition of 57 securities and removal of 28 securities from its All-Country World Index.

Last year, however, Pakistan was downgraded from its status as an emerging market, with MSCI saying while the Pakistani equity market met the requirements for market accessibility under the classification framework for Emerging Markets, it no longer met the standards for size and liquidity.