FTSE Russell downgrades Pakistan’s status to frontier market

KARACHI: FTSE Russell has downgraded Pakistan’s market status from secondary emerging market to frontier market in a significant move.

According to a statement released by FTSE on Wednesday, this decision was made because Pakistan did not meet the minimum securities count required to maintain its previous classification.

FTSE’s announcement on Wednesday, following its interim update in March 2024, indicated that as of the assessment date on June 28, 2024, Pakistan fell short of having at least two eligible constituents in the FTSE Emerging Index.

Therefore, in accordance with their classification framework, Pakistan will undergo reclassification from secondary emerging to frontier market status.

This change will take effect in the September 2024 index reviews for both the FTSE Global Equity Index Series and the FTSE Frontier Index Series, starting from September 23, 2024.

This decision follows FTSE’s action in September 2023 when Pakistan was placed on a watch list due to concerns about its declining index weight within FTSE Russell benchmarks.

Despite marginally meeting the minimum investable market capitalization threshold to retain secondary emerging market status back then, subsequent assessments led to the reclassification announced now.